The final year of Director Vidal’s tenure as the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was a busy year for rulemaking at the Office. Since late 2023, five Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) directly related to...more
On November 12, USPTO Director Kathi Vidal announced in a post on LinkedIn and a letter to friends and colleagues that she would be stepping down the second week in December. Deputy Director Derrick Brent will take over until...more
Director Review at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) remains a hot topic in patent law. The Director first established an interim process for Director Review in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2021 decision in United...more
On April 3, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of rulemaking setting out the fees that it proposes for the fiscal year starting on September 29, 2024. Although the proposed fees are...more
On May 10, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that, if enacted, would tie the enforceability of every claim of a patent subject to a terminal disclaimer to the...more
On June 28, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Notice requesting public comments on the current state of the common law experimental use exception to patent infringement and whether Congress...more
United States Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal's recent decision emphasizes the importance of General Plastic factor 1 in cases where there is no significant relationship between multiple petitioners. ...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is facing vigorous backlash to its proposal to change terminal disclaimer practice used in patent applications and, not so subtly, discourage the use of continuation...more
Patent and Trademark Public Advisory Committees, 89 FR 44634 (May 21, 2024) (“seeking nominations for up to three members of its Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) to advise the Director of the USPTO on patent policy,...more
The NPRM proposals align with interim guidance on requesting director review for key AIA trial decisions. Following the Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew ruling, director review by the USPTO Director remains crucial for addressing...more
Every month, Erise’s patent attorneys review the latest inter partes review cases and news to bring you the stories that you should know about: PTAB issues initial decisions on Lululemon-Nike IPRs - Lululemon, whose...more
On May 10, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice) proposing changes to terminal disclaimer (TD) practice....more
On 10 May 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking aimed at changing the current practices surrounding terminal disclaimers. The proposed change could have...more
On Friday, May 10, 2024, the USPTO issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register directed at amending the rules of practice to add a requirement for terminal disclaimers filed to overcome rejections for...more
The USPTO on May 10, 2024, issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) raising the requirements for accepting a Terminal Disclaimer (TD) to obviate obviousness-type double patenting (ODP). Specifically, the newly proposed...more
On May 10, 2024, the USPTO posted a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) soliciting comments regarding a proposed change concerning terminal disclaimers used to overcome non-statutory double patenting. The proposed change...more
On May 10, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes a rule regarding new requirements for terminal disclaimers filed to obviate nonstatutory...more
On May 10, 2024, the USPTO issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that proposes major changes to terminal disclaimer practice that could greatly affect both patent prosecution and patent litigation strategies. Specifically,...more
On April 30, the USPTO announced a Request for Comments (RFC) seeking public feedback on how AI could affect USPTO evaluations on patentability, including what qualifies as prior art and the assessment of the level of...more
On April 19, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes rules regarding the exercise of discretion to determine whether to institute an Inter Partes...more
One year ago, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) that set forth several ideas related to America Invents Act (AIA) proceedings before the Patent Trial...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on April 19, 2024 aimed at codifying existing Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) practices while further improving “fairness,...more
On April 16, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding Director Review of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decisions....more
The availability of post-grant proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has changed the face of patent litigation. This periodic digest is designed to keep you up-to-date by highlighting interesting PTAB,...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to revise its rules on amendment practice under the America Invents Act (AIA). Specifically, the USPTO is proposing...more