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 January 14, 2025, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Lynk Labs, Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., No. 2023-2346 (Fed. Cir.), affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s ruling that “a published patent...more
1/20/2025
/ America Invents Act ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Samsung ,
USPTO
On October 2, the USPTO terminated proceedings in approximately 3,100 patent applications due to the fraudulent entry of S-signatures of registered practitioners by others. The final order noted that improper use of a...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
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 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
On April 16, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding Director Review of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decisions in America Invents Act (AIA)...more
On March 8, the USPTO joined other intellectual property offices in celebrating International Women’s Day with a theme of “Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress.”...more
4/4/2024
/ America Invents Act ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Office ,
Diversity ,
E-Signatures ,
Filing Fees ,
Final Rules ,
Innovation ,
Judicial Review ,
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
WIPO
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 August 31, 2023, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board published its updated Oral Hearing Guide. Changes reflected in the update include the addition of an all-virtual hearing option for AIA trials, updated information on how...more
USPTO News -
On July 11, the USPTO Office of the Chief Economist released the 2022 updates to its Trademark Case Files Dataset and Trademark Assignment Dataset....more
8/8/2023
/ Administrative Procedure ,
Administrative Review Board ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Comment Period ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Copyright ,
Final Rules ,
OMB ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Proposed Legislation ,
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) ,
Trademarks ,
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 April 20, the USPTO announced an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) seeking public input regarding potential PTAB reforms, including proposed changes to discretionary institution practices, petition word limits,...more
USPTO Leadership -
..This month, Director Kathi Vidal delivered official remarks at the International Copyright Institute and at the Global Forum on Intellectual Property.
..Director Vidal was appointed as a Federal...more
USPTO Leadership -
On April 13, Kathi Vidal was sworn in as the new Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Director Vidal offered...more
5/5/2022
/ America Invents Act ,
Google ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
New Legislation ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Prosecution Highway ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Samsung ,
Trade Secrets ,
USPTO
USPTO Leadership -
Drew Hirshfeld is still performing the functions and duties of Director. President Biden nominated Kathi Vidal to be the next Director....more
USPTO News -
On September 9, 2021, Senators Patrick Leahy and Thom Tillis wrote a letter to Acting Director Andrew Hirshfeld requesting that the USPTO “take steps to reduce patent applicants’ making inappropriate...more
10/5/2021
/ America Invents Act ,
Comment Period ,
Executive Orders ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Interim Rule ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petition for Review ,
Proposed Legislation ,
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
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 Director Andrei Iancu and Deputy Director Laura Peter resigned from their respective posts prior to inauguration day. Commissioner for Patents Drew Hirschfeld and Senior Counsel Coke Morgan Stewart are temporarily...more
2/2/2021
/ Administrative Resignation ,
America Invents Act ,
E-Commerce ,
Filing Fees ,
Information Reports ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
New Guidance ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Public Comment ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
An important set of factors the Patent Trial and Appeal Board considers when deciding whether to institute inter partes review concerns the filing of multiple petitions challenging the same patent. Part I of this two-part...more
In view of the increasing number of petitions for inter partes review filed before the Patent and Trial Appeal Board since its inception more than six years ago, the PTAB has increased its scrutiny of so-called “serial”...more
On August 13, the Patent Trials and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) published updates to the AIA Trial Practice Guide (the TPG Update). The TPG Update is a supplement to the original Trial Practice Guide (TPG), which the PTAB...more
Six years after the America Invents Act created inter partes review proceedings, patent disputes increasingly involve parallel litigation, with at least one inter partes review proceeding in tandem with district court...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 24 issued its decision in the closely watched patent case Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, 138 S. Ct. 1365 (2018). The case addressed a constitutional challenge to...more
The Supreme Court today decided two important cases involving patent rights and inter partes review at the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). Both cases affirm the importance of Post-Grant Proceedings as a part of an...more
4/25/2018
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
America Invents Act ,
Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Oil States Energy Services v Greene's Energy Group ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
SAS Institute Inc. v Iancu ,
SCOTUS ,
Seventh Amendment ,
USPTO
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit), the reviewing court for the decisions issued by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board), has handled over 1,000 appeals from the Board on patent trials...more