The Situation: Concerns that uncertain and unpredictable patent subject matter eligibility jurisprudence thwarts U.S. economic and technological advancements are especially acute in the fast advancing AI space. Stakeholders...more
The PTAB recently updated its Standard Operating Procedure 1 (SOP), which describes the process and guidelines for assigning judges to panels in all jurisdictions of the Board. This blog post highlights some of the key...more
On April 19, 2024, the USPTO issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (the “Notice”) regarding discretionary denial in post-grant proceedings and other issues. The Notice addresses stakeholder feedback responsive to the...more
5/3/2024
/ Comment Period ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patents ,
Petition for Review ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
USPTO
The USPTO is seeking public input on whether prior art must be authored by humans and how, if at all, AI-generated disclosures should be treated differently from non-AI generated disclosures....more
The USPTO's April 11, 2024, guidance clarifies how existing USPTO rules apply to the use of AI by practitioners when interacting with the USPTO....more
The Background: In response to the Biden administration's "Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence" on October 30, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office...more
2/19/2024
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biden Administration ,
Executive Orders ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Joint Inventors ,
New Guidance ,
Patent Act ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
USPTO
USPTO Director Katherine K. Vidal issued guidance on February 6, 2024 regarding the use of AI in drafting materials submitted to the USPTO’s administrative boards, including the PTAB. Of biggest concern in the guidance is...more
On November 16, 2023, USPTO Director Kathi Vidal ordered a Delegated Rehearing Panel (“DRP”) to review whether the PTAB misapprehended or overlooked certain issues when denying challenger SynAffix B.V.’s petition for inter...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office, along with the U.S. Departments of State and Commerce, sought initial public comment last week on draft guidelines entitled "International Guiding Principles for Organizations...more
10/31/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Comment Period ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Cybersecurity ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Machine Learning ,
Technology ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
USPTO
In an effort to shed light on the practice of filing multiple petitions under the America Invents Act (AIA) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently released...more
The Situation: The U.S. Supreme Court recently denied certiorari in Thaler v. Vidal, leaving intact the Federal Circuit's ruling that only human beings, and not artificial intelligence ("AI") systems, can be inventors under...more
6/23/2023
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Intellectual Property Owner’s Association (IPO) ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventors ,
Machine Learning ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
USPTO
In Zynga Inc. v. IGT, IPR2022-00199, the USPTO Director, Kathi Vidal, sua sponte granted review and affirmed the decision instituting trial over patent owner’s argument that the Board erred in its application of interference...more
Note From the Editors With 2022 well underway, the rapid pace of statutory, regulatory, policy, and industry activities in digital health continues in force. We bring you Vital Signs, a curated, one-stop resource on the most...more
3/9/2022
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
DEA ,
Digital Health ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Taxes ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
HIPAA Breach Notification Rule ,
Income Taxes ,
Life Sciences ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Taxes ,
Telecommuting ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine ,
USPTO
AI is becoming ubiquitous across all industries. AI systems and services are embedded in everyday products and services, including Amazon's Alexa, Netflix streaming services, and Nest smart thermostats. AI systems are also...more
A recent case in the Northern District of Illinois addressed the issue of collateral estoppel in connection with patents that were similar to those previously cancelled by the PTAB: In Think Prods., Inc. v. Acco Brands...more
On August 18, 2020, the USPTO issued guidance regarding the reliance on Applicant Admitted prior art (AAPA). Under 35 U.S.C. § 311(b), IPRs may be instituted only “on the basis of prior art consisting of patents or printed...more
The Situation: Artificial intelligence ("AI") is being used to develop new inventions without human aid. As AI capabilities increase, patent offices around the globe are being confronted with difficult questions about whether...more
The emergence of artificial intelligence-related technology as a means of innovation has led to uncertainties for companies across industries, primarily because U.S. patent law has historically held that intellectual property...more
4/20/2020
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Copyright ,
Innovation ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventors ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
The Situation: Artificial intelligence ("AI") is emerging as a key driver of innovation in the biopharmaceutical industry, which uses AI in research and development ("R&D") to analyze big data.
The Result: AI is already...more
12/20/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Biopharmaceutical ,
Biotechnology ,
Clinical Trials ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Life Sciences ,
Machine Learning ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
R&D ,
Research and Development ,
USPTO
The Situation: Advances in artificial intelligence ("AI") are providing the ability to automatically create and design innovations without human assistance. AI's impact on patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and other...more
11/26/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Authorship ,
Comment Period ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Two recent patent applications seek protection for inventions that were created autonomously by artificial intelligence without a human inventor. The applicants want the AI to be deemed the inventor and the AI's owners to...more
The Situation: Artificial intelligence ("AI") is growing more powerful and gaining application in many areas. AI can now create new innovation on its own, without a human inventor—a capability that will only expand as...more
9/9/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Computer-Related Inventions ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
USPTO ,
Young Lawyers
Patent procurement activity is increasing to protect embedded artificial intelligence ("AI") technologies in a variety of digital healthcare solutions. The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has issued the...more
8/19/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Digital Health ,
Healthcare ,
Life Sciences ,
Medical Devices ,
New Guidance ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Section 101 ,
Technology ,
USPTO
The Situation The legal uncertainty surrounding patent subject matter eligibility under Section 101 of the United States Code ("35 U.S.C. § 101") has been the subject of much attention, as it has become difficult for...more
1/11/2019
/ Abstract Ideas ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
New Guidance ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Examinations ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Section 101 ,
USPTO
Assignor estoppel is a long-established, common-law doctrine of equity, which prevents a party who assigns a patent to another from later challenging the validity of the assigned patent. The doctrine also applies to parties...more