After nearly a quarter of a century, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) has approved the passage of a new IP treaty: the WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional...more
The outlines of global design protection change regularly, with every year bringing significant updates in at least some major jurisdictions. In general the changes bend toward greater alignment and the emergence of...more
On February 5, 2022 China became the 94th country to join the Hague System which will go into force on May 5, 2022...more
A new USPTO fee schedule took effect on January 16, 2018, which usually means that all fees must be paid at the new (higher) rate. However, thanks to revisions to 35 USC ยง 151 effected by the Patent Law Treaties...more
Since the Patent Law Treaty Implementation Act took effect on December 18, 2013, applicants may have noticed that they are being given a longer period of time to respond to certain Office Actions, such as Restriction...more
On October 21, 2013 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a Notice of Final Rulemaking to revise its rules of practice to reflect the Patent Law Treaty and title II of the Patent Law Treaties Implementation...more
In April, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register (78 Fed. Reg. 21788) proposing changes to the rules of practice for consistency with the Patent Law Treaty (PLT) and title II of the...more
While U.S. patent practitioners have been focusing on the changes to U.S. patent law embodied in the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), Congress has taken additional steps to harmonize and streamline patent application...more