On May 27, the USPTO announced the completion of a critical upgrade to the agency’s core financial system, Momentum, to streamline maintenance of the fee payment systems as well as several internal functions....more
Welcome to Wilmer Hale's PTAB/USPTO Update for May 2025....more
On March 10, John Squires was officially nominated to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office....more
4/8/2025
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Director of the USPTO ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
New Legislation ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Portal ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Presidential Nominations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
USPTO
On February 24, 2025 the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that David Gooder would step down from his role as Commissioner for Trademarks at the end of the month....more
3/4/2025
/ America Invents Act ,
Apple ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Multi-Factor Authentication ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Policy Memorandums ,
Portal ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
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
5/7/2024
/ Administrative Review ,
America Invents Act ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Comment Period ,
Directors ,
Fees ,
Final Rules ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
NPRM ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Term Extensions ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Proposed Rules ,
Request for Continued Examination ,
USPTO
On February 13, the USPTO issued inventorship guidance for AI-assisted innovations. The guidance, effective as of February 13, 2024, emphasizes that AI-assisted inventions are not categorically unpatentable and the...more
3/5/2024
/ America Invents Act ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Guidance Update ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Inventions ,
Inventors ,
Motion to Amend ,
Obviousness ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Proposed Rules ,
USPTO
On June 7, the USPTO released its 2022-2026 Strategic Plan. According to the USPTO, the new plan outlines the USPTO's mission-focused strategic goals, which are: (1) driving inclusive U.S. innovation and global...more
On March 6, the USPTO announced a new Green Energy Category of its Patents for Humanity Program. Patents for Humanity is an awards competition that recognizes innovators who use technology to meet global humanitarian...more
4/4/2023
/ Congressional Committees ,
Expedited Actions Process ,
Filing Fees ,
Final Rules ,
Humanitarian Assistance ,
Incentive Awards ,
Innovation ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Interim Rule ,
Patent Examinations ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) ,
USPTO
The USPTO published Revision 07.2022 of the Ninth Edition of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). A change summary is available here....more
3/7/2023
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Committees ,
Final Rules ,
Google ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Mylan Pharmaceuticals ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Roku ,
Samsung ,
USAA ,
USPTO ,
Xerox
USPTO News -
..On October 19, 2022 the USPTO issued a report titled “Where are U.S. women patentees? Assessing three decades of growth” examining trends in women’s patenting in the U.S. from 1990-2019.
..Director...more
11/2/2022
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Comment Period ,
Final Rules ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Examinations ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) ,
Public Comment ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
USPTO ,
USPTO Pilot Program
USPTO Leadership -
..Drew Hirshfeld is still performing the functions and duties of Director. The Biden Administration has not made an announcement as to who will be nominated to become the next Director. ...more
9/9/2021
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
America Invents Act ,
Biologics ,
Claim Construction ,
Fraud ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Orange Book ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Preliminary Injunctions ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
USPTO Leadership -
..Drew Hirshfeld is still performing the functions and duties of Director. The Biden Administration has not made an announcement as to who will be nominated to become the next Director....more
8/18/2021
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Administrative Procedure ,
Final Rules ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Proposed Legislation ,
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) ,
Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP) ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
United States v Arthrex Inc ,
USPTO
Notices, Guidance and Requests -
..Administrative Updates to the General Requirements Bulletin for Admission to the Examination for Registration to Practice in Patent Cases, 86 Fed. Reg. 54 (March 23, 2021) [Written...more