Intellectual Property › Administrative Law

ITC Section 337 Update - April 15, 2013

Commission Notice In 874 Investigation Directing Early Determination Whether NPE Complainant Satisfied Domestic Industry Requirement – On March 22, 2013, the Commission issued a Notice instituting Certain Products...more

Obama Administration Reports on Efforts to Prevent Trade Secret Misappropriation

The Obama Administration issued a Report earlier this month, entitled "Administration Strategy on Mitigating the Theft of U.S. Trade Secrets," that sets forth its efforts to prevent trade secret misappropriation. The Report...more

USPTO Finalizes "First Inventor to File" Rules

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) finalized the rules of practice implementing the "first inventor to file" provision of the America Invents Act (AIA). The rules take effect March 16, 2013. The "first...more

Member States Sign Agreement to Establish Unified Patent Court

On Tuesday, the Council of the European Union announced that twenty-four member states had signed the international agreement that would establish a Unified Patent Court (UPC), a specialized court having exclusive...more

Supreme Court Hears Argument on States’ Ability to Exclude Public Records Access for Non-Citizens

On February 20, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in McBurney v. Young, No. 12-17, a case with potentially major implications for businesses that use state freedom of information acts (FOIAs) to obtain...more

Major Changes to Australian Patent Law – Act Now to Benefit From Current Law

On 15 April 2013, the bulk of 'Raising the Bar' amendments to the Australian Patents Act come into effect. These amendments will change Australian patent law significantly by raising patentability and specification...more

In re Simon Shiao Tam

Ex Parte Appeal Brief of Simon Tam of the PTO's Refusal to Register THE SLANTS Trademark

From the Preliminary Statement: This is not yet another case of a member of an ethnic group seeking registration of a supposedly offensive slur on the ground that group members, or he in particular, have “embraced” the...more

Omi_Dreamer-Fashion_and_Internet_Brand_MarketingEIN Confirmation Letter

Omi_Dreamer-Fashion_and_Internet_Brand_MarketingEIN Confirmation Letter

A legal document from the Department of Treasury Internal Revenue Service that acknowledges and certifies Omi Dreamer-Fashion and Internet Brand Marketing as an limited liability company. ...more

USPTO Extends Comments Deadline, Will Hold Roundtables on RCE Practice

In December, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register (77 Fed. Reg. 72830) seeking public feedback on Request for Continued Examination (RCE) practice. The notice provided a series of...more

The First-to-File Patent System is Coming - Optimize Your System Now

On March 16, 2013, the "first-to-file" provisions of the America Invents Act ("AIA"), will take effect, replacing the current first-to-invent system. Here we provide specific recommendations to optimize protection of your...more

Federal Court in Delaware Issues First Stay Pending Covered Business Method Review under Section 18(b)(1) of the America Invents...

On February 5, 2013, Judge Gregory M. Sleet of the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware issued an order staying litigation pending review by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board under the Transitional Program for...more

New USPTO Fees Effective March 16, 2013

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) recently revealed a revised fee schedule which changes the fees for any fee paid on or after March 19, 2013. While this is the first time the USPTO has set its own fees since...more

USPTO Finalizes New Patent Fee Schedule

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) finalized the patent fees that will take effect March 19, 2013, under the America Invents Act (AIA). Section 10 of the AIA authorizes the USPTO to set or adjust any patent...more

California’s Draft Hydraulic Fracturing Regulations Offer Substantial Trade Secret Protection for Operators

California’s Monterey shale, underlying a substantial portion of California, from Los Angeles to San Francisco, is estimated to hold 400 billion barrels of oil, or as much as 64% of the total shale oil reserves in the...more

USPTO Soliciting Comments on Software Patent Issues

The United States Patent and Trademark Office announced its intent earlier this month to form a “Software Partnership” with the software community in order to enhance the quality of software-related patents (the “Notice”)...more

The Upcoming “Patent Cliff”: Plan to File New Patent Applications Before March 16, 2013

On March 16, 2013, one of the most important and controversial provisions of the “Leahy-Smith America Invents Act,” or AIA, is scheduled to take effect and this event will mark a significant change in United States patent...more

IP 101 – 10 Things You Should Know About Patents to Protect Your Business

1. What is a patent? A patent is a right granted to inventors by the government to exclude others from making, selling, offering for sale, using, or importing an invention. The U.S. Government has issued over eight...more

Trade Secret Legislation May Increase Infringement Claims and Lead to a Private Right of Action

Congress recently took new steps to protect trade secrets, which are generally defined as all forms or types of financial, business, scientific, technical, economic, or engineering information that the owner has taken...more

The Patent Prosecution Highway Pothole for Pharmaceutical Patents

The USPTO promotes the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) as a way to “fast-track” a U.S. patent application when a corresponding foreign application has been allowed, or when a corresponding PCT application has received a...more

Consider Filing U.S. Patent Applications Before March 16

MARCH 16, 2013 is the effective date for major changes made to the U.S. Patent Act by the America Invents Act (“AIA”). These changes should motivate inventors to consider filing their patent applications before the changes...more

On Your Marks, Get Set…. AIA First-To-File Officially Takes Off On March 16, But The Race To File Patent Applications Has Already...

The America Invents Act or “AIA” was signed into law by President Obama on September 16, 2011. After an eighteen month waiting period, on March 16, 2013, two months from today, the US patent system officially changes to a...more

A Major Change in Patent Term Adjustment Calculus on Appeal to the Federal Circuit: Steps Applicants May Need to Consider to...

On November 1, 2012, Judge T.S. Ellis of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia decided Exelixis, Inc. v. Kappos (Case No. 1:12-cv-00096). Ruling against the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO),...more

Telecommunications in the 113th Congress

The 112th Congress saw a lot of activity focused on new and changing technologies, but few legislative breakthroughs. Early in the year, there was significant activity around intellectual property and online piracy issues,...more

D.C. Circuit Vacates Plug and Play Order and Encoding Rules Applicable to Multichannel Video Programming Distributors

On Jan. 15, 2013, the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided that the FCC lacked the statutory authority to adopt its 2003 encoding rules, which limit the output and copy restrictions that can be applied...more

USPTO Seeks Public Input on Application Drafting Practices

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register (78 Fed. Reg. 2960) earlier today requesting public comment regarding potential practices that applicants can employ in the drafting of patent...more