The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently released its Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2015. In describing the USPTO's strategic and performance-planning framework, the 2015 report begins by...more
Last month, in Pfizer, Inc. v. Lee, the Federal Circuit determined that the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on the...more
For the second time in a little more than a month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has experienced an unexpected closing. Last month, the closing resulted from a major power outage at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria,...more
Earlier today, we presented a live webinar on the "Top Patent Law Stories of 2015." The webinar covered seven of the twenty stories that made it onto Patent Docs ninth annual list of top patent stories. The seven stories...more
1/22/2016
/ America Invents Act ,
Chevron Deference ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
En Banc Review ,
Limelight v Akamai ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Sandoz v Amgen ,
Section 101 ,
Sequenom ,
USPTO
After reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its ninth annual list of top patent stories. For 2015, we identified twenty stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe...more
1/11/2016
/ Abstract Ideas ,
BPCIA ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
En Banc Review ,
Limelight v Akamai ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Notice Requirements ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Sandoz v Amgen ,
SCOTUS ,
Sequenom ,
USPTO
After reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its ninth annual list of top patent stories. For 2015, we identified twenty stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe...more
1/9/2016
/ Appeals ,
Broadest Reasonable Interpretation Standard ,
Cisco v CommilUSA ,
Claim Construction ,
Clear Error Standard ,
Cuozzo Speed Technologies ,
Electronics ,
Honest Belief Defense ,
Induced Infringement ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Term Adjustment ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Teva v Sandoz ,
USPTO
After reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its ninth annual list of top patent stories. For 2015, we identified twenty stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe...more
1/4/2016
/ Actavis Inc. ,
AMP v Myriad ,
Broadest Reasonable Interpretation Standard ,
Endo Pharmaceuticals ,
HTC ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Myriad ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
SCOTUS ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
USPTO ,
USPTO Pilot Program
Although the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has not yet made a formal announcement on the USPTO Systems Status and Availability webpage or the Office's Facebook and Twitter accounts, it appears that the Office has now...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced on December 24, 2015 that it has now restored its fax line and is once again able to receive faxed documents. The announcement was made on the Office's Facebook and Twitter...more
On Tuesday, December 22, a major power outage at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office headquarters in Alexandria, VA significantly damaged the Office's electronic systems and required the shutdown of the Office's online and...more
In a notice published in the Federal Register In a notice published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2015 (80 Fed. Reg. 79277), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office invites stakeholders to submit patent quality-related...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register earlier today (80 Fed. Reg. 78155) to comply with Public Law 113-227, which was enacted by Congress on December 16, 2014, and...more
USPTO and INPI Establish PPH Pilot Program -
On November 23, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Brazil's National Institute for Industrial Property (INPI) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that it had launched Dossier Access, the first of a set of business services to be developed as part of the Global Dossier Initiative. The Global Dossier...more
In a notice published earlier this week in the Federal Register (80 Fed. Reg. 65649), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a final rule revising the rules of practice to permit applicants to authorize the USPTO to give...more
In a Federal Register notice published earlier this month (80 Fed. Reg. 60367), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced a change in practice for the correction of errors in foreign priority claims. Under the change in...more
USPTO Extends After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 Program -
Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office indicated on its website and through a Patents Alert e-mail that the After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP...more
Earlier this summer, in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by the District Court for the Northern District of California granting summary judgment of invalidity of the asserted...more
9/29/2015
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Bilski ,
CLS Bank v Alice Corp ,
En Banc Review ,
Kappos ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Sequenom ,
USPTO
Earlier this summer, in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc., the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision by the District Court for the Northern District of California granting summary judgment of invalidity of the asserted...more
9/9/2015
/ Amicus Briefs ,
AMP v Myriad ,
En Banc Review ,
Intellectual Property Owners Association ,
Inventions ,
Mayo v. Prometheus ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Patents ,
Petition For Rehearing ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
Sequenom ,
USPTO
Last week, in Immersion Corp. v. HTC Corp., the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) filed a brief as amicus curiae in support of Plaintiff-Appellant Immersion Corp. In that case, the District Court for the...more
USPTO to Replace EFS-Web and PAIR -
In an article posted on the Director's Forum blog, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Deputy Director Russ Slifer announced that the Office would begin implementing a new system that...more
Last month, in a letter to Congressional leadership, 79 Members of Congress expressed their support for the Innovation Act (H.R. 9) but sought inclusion of language in the bill "to preserve the integrity of the Drug Price...more
8/7/2015
/ America Invents Act ,
BPCIA ,
FDA Approval ,
Generic Drugs ,
Hatch-Waxman ,
Innovation Act ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Prescription Drugs ,
USPTO
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced earlier today that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker has appointed Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy Drew Hirshfeld to be the new Commissioner for Patents...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced two new collaborations with the Japan Patent Office. In a press release issued on July 1, the USPTO announced an agreement with the JPO in which the JPO will...more
Earlier this month, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) issued a cost estimate for the Innovation Act (H.R. 9). The bill, which was introduced in February, was reported by the House Committee on the Judiciary in June. The...more