USPTO Leadership

• Drew Hirshfeld is still performing the functions and duties of Director.  No announcement from the Biden Administration as to who will be nominated to become the next Director.

IP Toolkit

• USPTO updated the China Intellectual Property Rights toolkit to reflect the recent changes made to China’s intellectual property (IP)-related laws and government structure.

USPTO News

• USPTO issued patent number 11,000,000 to co-inventors Saravana B. Kumar and Jason S. Diedering of 4C Medical Technologies, Inc. in Maple Grove, Minnesota.
• TTAB initiated the Pilot Prioritized Review Program for Appeals Related to COVID-19 and the Conference Pilot Program for Oppositions Against Applications Related to COVID-19.
• USPTO’s Office of the Chief Economist (OCE) released the 2020 update to the Trademark Case Files Dataset.

Notices, Guidance and Requests

• Requests for Nominations: Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees, 86 Fed. Reg. 99 (May 25, 2021) [Nominations must be electronically transmitted on or before July 9, 2021] (seeking nominations to fill upcoming vacancies on the Patent Public Advisory Committee and the Trademark Public Advisory Committee) (Press release).

Final Rules

• Changes to Representation of Others Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 86 Fed. Reg. 100 (May 26, 2021) (amending the rules regarding Representation of Others before the USPTO to “align[] the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct more closely with the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct”).

Interim Rules

• There are no new interim rules.

Proposed Rules

• Changes to Implement Provisions of the Trademark Modernization Act, 86 Fed. Reg. 94 (May 18, 2021) [Written comments period closes July 19, 2021] (proposing to amend the rules of practice in trademark cases to implement provisions of the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020). 

PTAB Decisions

• New Precedential PTAB Decisions
  • There are no new precedential PTAB decisions.
• New Informative PTAB Decisions
  • There are no new informative PTAB decisions.

New Requests for POP Review

• Lenovo Holding Company, Inc. et al v. InterDigital Technology Corporation, IPR2020-01481 [Notification of Receipt of POP Request issued May 18, 2021] [Requesting POP review of Institution Decision as being contrary to Federal Circuit precedent regarding a challenged patent’s priority date.]