In patent examination, the examiner will cite a prior art document in order to determine whether or not an invention or utility model is novel and inventive. The applicants challenge the implementability of the cited prior...more
On February 4, 2021 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) extended for two years the expansion of the Collaborative Search Pilot Program (CSP), which began in 2015 and is now scheduled to end October 31, 2022. The CSP...more
Major patent offices around the world have long been aware of backlog and redundancy issues facing the global patent landscape. As previously reviewed, the Patent Prosecution (PPH) program aims to accelerate examination...more
The October 2020 issue of Sterne Kessler's Global Patent Prosecution newsletter discusses the factors you need to consider when filing strategies to protect your innovations in Asia and reviews the benefits for using the...more
On June 30, 2020, the JFTC published an interim report about market research on startup business practices (the "Report"). The JFTC will continue its research and will issue a final report. This is part of the effort by the...more
The Hogan Lovells IP & Media Technology team is tracking the changes being made by intellectual property offices around the world in response to the coronavirus so we can keep you informed on the key developments....more
USPTO and JPO Issue Joint Message - Yesterday, Director Andrei Iancu of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Commissioner Akira Matsunaga of the Japan Patent Office issued a joint message to express the Offices' "most...more
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program accelerates examination among participating patent offices. The PPH program first began as a trial program between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Japan Patent...more
Both the European Patent Office (EPO) and the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) accept a third party observation regarding validity of a patent application. In February 2012, it was announced that third party observations could be...more
Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosted the annual meeting of the heads of the world’s five largest intellectual property offices, commonly referred to as the IP5 (see a related press release)....more
Intellectual Property - JPO Launches its Advisory Opinion System to Determine Standard-Essential Patents - On April 1, 2018, the Japan Patent Office ("JPO") began operation of an advisory opinion (hantei) system to...more
The Japan Patent Office (JPO) announced in March that some revisions would be made to the Trademark Examination Manual on 2 April, 2018. Main points of the revision are as follows: Among these four, the first will have the...more
Labor & Employment - Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Requests Employer Associations to Prepare for the Conversion Rule - As April 1, 2018, will mark the fifth year since the "Rule on conversion of...more
Life science and other high technology companies most frequently file patent applications in five IP offices (IP5), namely: the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japanese...more
Labor - Japan's Action Plan for the Realization of Work Style Reform - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe recently held 10 meetings of the "Council for the Realization of Work Style Reform," to discuss reforms to Japan's...more
On April 27th, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office held a Patent Quality Community Symposium at the Office in Alexandria, VA (consistent with its efforts to disseminate its workforce into regional offices, the offices in...more
Highlights of 2015 and What to Watch in 2016 in The United States - Commil USA, llC v. CiSCo SyStemS, inC. (Supreme Court, may 26, 2015). In May, the Supreme Court held that a good faith belief that an asserted patent...more
The grant of a patent can be delayed by years due to backlogs at patent offices around the world. However, recognizing the urgent need to address climate change, certain patent offices have established programs to expedite...more
On November 20, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched Dossier Access – a public online interface providing access to the file histories of related applications from participating patent offices around...more
The USPTO has launched two new programs aimed at improving patent quality by joining forces with the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) or the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) at the initial stages of the patent...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced two new collaborations with the Japan Patent Office. In a press release issued on July 1, the USPTO announced an agreement with the JPO in which the JPO will...more
Effective July 1, 2015, green technology companies can now choose the Japan Patent Office (JPO) as an International Searching Authority (ISA) and International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA) for international...more
Patent services provider inovia announced the release of its 2013 report on global patent and IP trends today. In compiling the report, inovia, which produces products for PCT national phase entry, European patent...more