On Friday, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it was cancelling all in-person meetings — including all examiner interviews, all meetings between examiners and applicants, and all hearings before the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (PTAB) and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB). The USPTO noted that parties will receive further instructions on participating via video or telephone in advance of any such interview, meeting, or hearing.
The day prior, the Federal Circuit announced that, with an exception for cases where all counsel is local, it is cancelling April oral arguments in favor of resolving the cases on the briefs or conducting the hearings via telephone at the previously-scheduled time. The U.S. Copyright Office has also announced that it is closed to the public until April 1.
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