The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented 37 CFR § 42.75 on October 31, 2024, establishing a formal framework for Director Review of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings. During her tenure, Director...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released new guidance on patent subject matter eligibility (the Guidance), with a particular focus on artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies. As noted...more
In Dragon Intellectual Property LLC v. DISH Network LLC, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed an “exceptional” set of circumstances concerning the recovery of attorney fees in district court litigation...more
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) this week issued a memorandum related to guidelines for examining patent claims with means-plus-function and step-plus-function limitations under 35 USC § 112(f). The memorandum...more
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released comprehensive guidance on inventorship for artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted inventions. This guidance, instigated by the executive order Safe, Secure, and...more
At a time marked by themes of “push” and “pull,” organizations across all sectors and jurisdictions are grappling with the pursuit of innovation within an increasingly complex regulatory framework. Over the next 12 months,...more
The term “metaverse” first appeared in Neal Stephenson’s dystopian novel Snow Crash in 1992. Two decades later, the metaverse has evolved from a concept in print into an interactive and immersive reality. Its hyper-realistic...more
The PTAB Digest 2021/2022 provides an overview of PTAB statistics, trends, and updates that impact strategies and business decisions for patent owners and petitioners alike.
Significant developments included the...more
In Alarm.com Inc. v. Hirshfeld, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that decisions by the US Patent and Trademark Office Director vacating ex parte reexamination based on estoppel may be subject to judicial...more
The US Patent and Trademark Office is implementing a pilot program to allow participating applicants to defer responding to subject matter eligibility rejections until the earlier of a final disposition of the application, or...more
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced on December 4 a rule change to clarify and expand exceptions to small entity status, which primarily affects the fees that the USPTO charges patent applicants. ...more
It has been argued that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) cannot engage in rulemaking through decisions made by its administrative patent judges (APJs), even if those decisions are made precedential, as APJs...more
12/28/2020
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
America Invents Act ,
Article III ,
Burden of Persuasion ,
Burden of Proof ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Motion to Amend ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Standing ,
Substitute Claims ,
USPTO
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently ruled that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board correctly refused to substitute proposed amended claims for being directed to ineligible subject matter under 35 USC § 101....more
In a recent opinion in ESIP Series 2, LLC v. Puzhen Life USA, LLC, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that 35 USC 314(d), which bars appellate review of US Patent and Trademark Office decisions to...more
The decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board illustrates the dangers in waiting until the last day of the one-year statutory bar to file a petition, and the importance of double checking the filed documents on the PTAB’s...more
President Donald Trump signed the $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act or the Act) into law on March 27. The CARES Act aims to offer economic relief to companies and their employees due...more
4/8/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Federal Loans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Relief Measures ,
SBA ,
SBA Lending Programs ,
Small Business ,
Startups ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
USPTO
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently designated two decisions as precedential and a third as informative in cases where the PTAB considered whether to exercise 35 USC § 325(d) discretion to deny petitions where the same...more