News & Analysis as of September 12, 2025

Patent Prosecution

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The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act is a United States federal statute enacted in 2011 aimed at simplifying the U.S. patent system and allowing inventions to be brough to market sooner. The AIA makes significant changes to the patent system, including changing from a first-to-invent scheme to a first-to-file scheme, eliminating interference proceedings and developing post-grant opposition. less -

IP Monday: Provisional vs. Non-Provisional Patents — When to File What

Foster Swift Collins & Smith on 9/8/2025

In the U.S., patent rights generally go to the first inventor to file — not the first to invent. Filing early secures your place in line. But the type of application you choose (provisional vs. non-provisional) can...more

Federal Circuit Appeals from the PTAB and ITC: Summaries of Key 2022 Decisions

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 2/8/2023

As part of the recovery from the global COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit took steps to return to normal operations. It began requiring live oral arguments in August 2022 and, by November,...more

Federal Circuit Appeals from the PTAB and ITC: Summaries of Key 2021 Decisions: Introduction

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 2/10/2022

Last year, the continued global COVID-19 pandemic forced American courts to largely continue the procedures set in place in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was no exception. It briefly returned to live...more

Federal Circuit Appeals from the PTAB and ITC: Summaries of Key 2021 Decisions

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 2/9/2022

[co-author: Jamie Dohopolski] Last year, the continued global COVID-19 pandemic forced American courts to largely continue the procedures set in place in 2020. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was no...more

Procuring U.S. Patents without a Signed Assignment of Patent Rights

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints on 10/27/2020

Increased employee mobility, health challenges, and the economic downturn due to the COVID-19 pandemic may result in more inventors than usual being unavailable to assign patent rights. Fortunately, applicants may procure a...more

Patent Prosecution Tool Kit: 1.132 Declarations for Traversing Rejections

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 7/24/2020

Long before the AIA, declarations were a tool that was available during patent prosecution to put evidence, e.g., post-filing data and expert opinions, in front of an Examiner to rebut obviousness or lack of enablement...more

Keeping Trade Secrets Out of Patents

Womble Bond Dickinson on 9/5/2019

Trade secret and patent laws both provide intellectual property protection but have conflicting requirements that can impose challenges for a company seeking to maximize its protection under each right. Originally...more

Quick Protection or Flexible Prosecution? Have it Both Ways with Track-One and Deferred Examination

Womble Bond Dickinson on 6/6/2019

Today, technology companies are conceptualizing new ideas and improving upon those ideas at a blistering pace. Previously, under the United States’ first-to-invent patent system, such companies could afford to wait until new...more

The Board Gives Section 325(d) Sharp Teeth—Part III —Things Are Looking Up for Patent Owners

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C. on 12/29/2017

This is the third of a three-part series discussing developments around Section 325(d). Part one appeared in our October 2017 newsletter and part two appeared in our November 2017 newsletter. As we have noted in each of...more

Defensive Publication: An Alternate Way of Maintaining Your Turf in a Competitive Marketplace

Foley & Lardner LLP on 4/7/2014

It is common knowledge that the bread-and-butter of emerging startups lies in securing exclusive rights to key aspects of their implicated technology. Staking claims to valuable IP assets via direct ownership or exclusive...more

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