Key Takeaways:
- The Director, in consultation with at least three APJs, will now decide the discretionary denial question, rather than having the merits panel decide the issue.
- Discretionary denial will have separate...more
On February 13, 2024, the USPTO (PTO) published its guidance for inventions made with the assistance of artificial intelligence (AI). The PTO published the guidance in response to the directive it received in the Executive...more
As we near a standoff in Congress on the budget, we write to remind clients about how a government shutdown would affect patent and trademark operations at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), copyright operations at the...more
The Constitution’s Article II “Appointments Clause” requires the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate, to appoint “officers” of the United States. In United States v. Arthrex, Inc., the Supreme Court reviewed...more
6/24/2021
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arthrex Inc v Smith & Nephew Inc ,
Executive Branch ,
Executive Powers ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
United States v Arthrex Inc ,
USPTO
In our prior blog entries... we followed the course of Matal v. Tam, the case involving the mark “THE SLANTS.” In that case, the Supreme Court struck down a portion of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), on...more
7/1/2019
/ Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Lanham Act ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
Scandalous/Immoral Marks ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
As part of our continuing monitoring of this issue, we bring you the latest chapter in the saga over the registration of THE SLANTS trademark. After the en banc Federal Circuit struck down Section 2(a) as facially...more
4/2/2016
/ Appeals ,
Certiorari ,
Disparagement ,
En Banc Review ,
First Amendment ,
Mandamus Petitions ,
Popular ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
In September, we discussed In re Tam and the potential for a showdown over the constitutionality of Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act. At that time, a panel of the Federal Circuit had recently upheld the PTO’s refusal to...more
1/5/2016
/ Chilling Effect ,
Commercial Speech ,
Disparagement ,
En Banc Review ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Government Speech Doctrine ,
Redskins ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO