News & Analysis as of

Filing Deadlines United States Patent and Trademark Office

McCarter & English, LLP

What to Do Now That the USPTO Accelerated Examination Program Is Ending

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) introduced the Accelerated Examination program in 2006 to help applicants receive expedited examination of important patent applications. The USPTO is ending the Accelerated...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Know the Rules or Get Burned: TTAB Smolders Oppositions for Failure to Prosecute

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

In Adaptive Energy LLC v. Central Coast Agriculture, Inc., the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) dismissed two oppositions for failure to prosecute. Oppositions Nos. 91275644 and 91280840 (April 11, 2025). The...more

Offit Kurman

When to Patent: Common Mistakes Business Leaders Make

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Suppose a newly hired engineer on your team sketches a promising new concept for a health monitor in a notebook. Excited by the idea, you loop in marketing, and soon, your company is promoting the product’s features through...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

USPTO Newest Discretionary Denials on Settled Expectations - Best Practices for Petitioners and Patent Owners

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Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued a series of discretionary denials of inter partes review (IPR) petitions, based on a new factor, the “settled expectations” of the Patent Owner....more

Jones Day

PTAB Clarifies Interim Workload Management Process

Jones Day on

On April 17, 2025, following Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart’s memorandum announcing a new interim process to manage the workload of all PTAB judges, the USPTO held a Boardside Chat outlining the new bifurcated process...more

McCarter & English, LLP

USPTO Discontinues Accelerated Examination for Utility Patent Applications, but Track 1 Remains a Good Option

The USPTO recently announced that the Accelerated Examination program will be discontinued as of July 10, 2025. Given that the program has had limited use over the past decade, with fewer than 100 Accelerated Examination...more

Vinson & Elkins LLP

File Early or Risk Denial: iRhythm IPR Institution Denial Underscores the Importance of Filing IPR Petitions Sooner Rather Than...

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On June 6, 2025, the Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), Coke Morgan Stewart, issued a decision denying institution of five inter partes review (“IPR”) petitions filed by iRhythm, Inc....more

Womble Bond Dickinson

USPTO to Discontinue Accelerated Examination Program for Utility Patents on July 10, 2025

Womble Bond Dickinson on

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced that, as of July 10, 2025, it will discontinue accepting petitions under the Accelerated Examination (AE) program for utility patent applications. However, petitions...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Patent Office Denial of “Late” Inter Partes Review Petitions Changes Expectations

On June 6, 2025, the acting Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Coke Morgan Stewart, issued a decision in iRhythm Technologies v. Welch Allyn, Inc.1 that initiates a new basis for discretionary denial...more

DLA Piper

How Delayed Notice of Date Accorded Mailings May Affect Inter Partes Review

DLA Piper on

Inter partes review (IPR) practices have seen significant changes since US Patent and Trademark Office Acting Director Coke Stewart assumed her current role in January 2025. Perhaps the most significant change has been Acting...more

BakerHostetler

US Patents Set to Issue 33 Percent Faster from the Notification Date

BakerHostetler on

Starting May 13, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will accelerate the time between issue notification and the issue date of a patent. That is, the time frame will be cut from about three weeks to two weeks –...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Avoid Pitfalls in Declaration of Use Filings: Domicile Address Requirements and U.S. Counsel Rule

Owners of U.S. trademark registrations issued in 2018 or 2019 will be facing an initial maintenance filing deadline this year (either a Section 8 or Section 71 Declaration of Use), and will need to take note of a new rule...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Breaking Down the Bifurcated PTAB Review Process: What the USPTO’s Recent FAQ Drop Reveals

On March 26, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released a memorandum introducing a new interim process for handling institution decisions in inter partes reviews (IPRs) and post-grant reviews (PGRs). The Office just...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Impact of New USPTO Interim Procedures on Discretionary Denial of AIA Proceedings

Baker Botts L.L.P. on

Key Takeaway: The USPTO has reinstated earlier discretionary denial standards (including Fintiv) and introduced a new two-phase review process, which is expected to lead to more frequent denials of IPR petitions. Both patent...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The USPTO Is Issuing Patents Faster — Here’s Why That Matters

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Beginning May 13, 2025, the window between paying the issue fee and your patent officially issuing will become much shorter....more

ArentFox Schiff

USPTO Reshapes Discretionary Denials for Post-Grant Proceedings

ArentFox Schiff on

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued two memoranda reshaping the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) approach to discretionary denials for parallel proceedings....more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

PTAB Issues Additional Information on New Pre-Institution Discretionary Briefing

On April 25, 2025, the USPTO issued additional information in response to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the “Interim Processes for PTAB Workload Management” memorandum issued on March 26, 2025. As discussed in our...more

Fish & Richardson

PTAB Issues FAQs on Interim Process for Workload Management

Fish & Richardson on

Last week, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) issued a list of FAQs related to the new bifurcated process for discretionary denial established in the March 26 memorandum issued by Acting Director Stewart. The FAQs...more

McDermott Will & Emery

PTO Accelerates Patent Issuance Timeline

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) announced that it has shortened the time between the issue notification and the issue date for patents. Historically, the time between these two events averaged about three weeks....more

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

USPTO Moves to Expedite Patent Issuance

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on

The USPTO recently announced that they would expedite patent issuance by reducing the time between Issue Notification and Issue Date. Effective May 13, 2025, patents will now issue approximately two weeks after receiving the...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

USPTO Announces Changes to Patent Issue Timelines and Design Application Examinations

Womble Bond Dickinson on

This week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) made two announcements of interest to patent holders and practitioners as part of modernization and efficiency efforts...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

USPTO to Expedite Patent Issuance

Fox Rothschild LLP on

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that effective May 13, 2025, the time between an Issue Notification and issue date of a U.S. patent will be reduced to about one week. Currently, it takes three...more

Ladas & Parry LLP

USPTO Efforts at Modernity Speeds Patent Issuance

Ladas & Parry LLP on

On May 13, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will expedite Issue Dates for patents. This will reduce the average time from three weeks to about two, so patent holders can bring their investments to market...more

Jones Day

PTAB Announces a Bifurcated Process for Consideration of IPR and PGR Petitions

Jones Day on

A new interim process for the acting director to exercise discretion as to whether to institute an inter partes review ("IPR") or a post-grant review ("PGR") was announced on March 26, 2025, in which discretionary...more

Proskauer - The Patent Playbook

Further Shifts in Patent Office Guidance for Discretionary Denials Signal Uphill Battles for Patent Challengers

On the heels of the rescission of the Fintiv guidance memorandum, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has again reshaped the PTAB’s approach to discretionary denials. On March 26, 2025, the Acting Director issued a new...more

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