Wolf Greenfield Attorneys Preview What’s Ahead in 2024
In 1999, Congress created a system of patent term adjustment (PTA) that adds additional time to patent terms to remedy certain delays caused by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in issuing a patent....more
35 U.S.C. § 101 precludes a patentee from obtaining more than one patent on the same invention. Courts have extended this prohibition “to preclude a second patent on an invention which ‘would have been obvious from the...more
An essential part of U.S. patent prosecution is the duty of disclosure, which requires the disclosure of all known information that is material to patentability. 37 C.F.R. § 1.56....more
On June 16, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released final rules (the “Rules”) implementing changes to how Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is calculated in certain circumstances in view of Supernus Pharms.,...more
In a case explaining what comprises an “applicant delay” in the context of a patent term adjustment (PTA), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) ruling that the...more
INTRA-CELLULAR THERAPIES, INC v. IANCU - Before Wallach, Chen, and Hughes. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Summary: If a proper reply to a final Office Action is not...more
MAYO FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH v. ANDREI IANCU, UNDER SECRETARY OF COMMERCE FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE - Before: Newman, Lourie, and Dyk - ...more
In Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research v. Iancu, the Federal Circuit agreed with the USPTO’s Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) calculation that excluded prosecution that occurred after an interference was decided...more
Federal Circuit Summary - Before Dyk, Schall, and Reyna. Appeal from U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Summary: The USPTO is only authorized to reduce Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) for applicant...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) allows a Request for Continued Examination (RCE) to be filed with a request to suspend processing of the RCE for up to 3 months, in accordance with 37 CFR 1.103(c). The suspension...more
Last week, in Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. Lee, the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision by the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granting summary judgment to the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark...more
In Gilead Sciences, Inc. v. Lee, the Federal Circuit upheld the USPTO’s interpretation of the Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) statute as permitting the USPTO to charge “Applicant Delay” when an Information Disclosure Statement...more
For patents granted on applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, the enforceable patent term begins on the day the patent issues and generally expires 20 years from the earliest effective filing date of the application. ...more