News & Analysis as of

Intellectual Property Protection Patents United States Patent and Trademark Office

A&O Shearman

Non-Application Of Interference Estoppel By PTAB In An IPR Institution Decision Found To Be Unreviewable

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On July 22, 2025, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (the “PTAB”) decision not to apply interference estoppel and, therefore, to institute an inter partes review...more

Fox Rothschild LLP

Report: U.S. Commerce Department Weighs New Patent Fee

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U.S. Commerce Department officials are considering whether to charge patent holders a new 1% to 5% patent fee that would be based on "overall patent value," The Wall Street Journal reported on July 28, 2025. There are no...more

ArentFox Schiff

USPTO Ends Remote PTAB Hearings Effective September 1

ArentFox Schiff on

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced that, effective September 1, all PTAB hearings will be conducted in person at USPTO offices, marking a departure from the virtual and hybrid formats adopted in recent...more

ArentFox Schiff

USPTO to Launch AI-Powered Image-Based Search Tool for Design Patents Amidst New Legal Standards

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The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the upcoming launch of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered image-based prior-art search tool for design patents, scheduled to go live on October 1, 2025 (fiscal...more

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP

Lexicography: Clear And Unequivocal

This Federal Circuit opinion analyzes lexicography in the context of claim construction. Alnylam Pharmaceuticals owns U.S. Patent Nos. 11,246,933 (parent) and 11,382,979 (child). These patents relate to biodegradable...more

Jones Day

Discretionary Denial Where Inventors Petitioned for Unpatentability

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Coke Morgan Stewart, the acting director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), exercised discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) to deny Tessell’s (“Petitioner’s”) petition in favor of Nutanix (“Patent...more

Proskauer - The Patent Playbook

PTO Creates New Expectations Regarding Discretionary Denials

On the heels of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Acting Director’s recent decision to deny institution of iRhythm Technologies’ inter partes review petition, the PTO has now issued additional decisions clarifying the role...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

AI Search Tool Coming to Design Patent Examination

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The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the rollout of DesignVision, an advanced AI‑powered image search tool now integrated into the examination system for U.S. design patent applications. According to the...more

Jones Day

Discretionary Denial of IPR Institution Due to Advanced Hatch-Waxman Litigation

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In a recent decision, the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (“PTAB”) exercised its discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a) to deny institution of an inter partes review (“IPR”) after applying the Fintiv factors, despite Petitioner’s...more

ArentFox Schiff

USPTO Raises Annual Cap on Prioritized Patent Examination Requests

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The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has finalized a rule increasing the annual limit on accepted requests for prioritized patent examination from 15,000 to 20,000, effective with fiscal year 2025 (FY 2025). This...more

Morgan Lewis

‘Settled Expectations,’ PTAB’s New Discretionary Denial Factor, Gains Additional Footing in Dabico

Morgan Lewis on

Acting Director of the USPTO Coke Morgan Stewart recently discretionarily denied institution of an inter partes review (IPR) based on a new consideration, “settled expectations,” that is, the length of time that the...more

MoFo Life Sciences

What Makes a Good Cell and Gene Therapy Application?

MoFo Life Sciences on

Cell and gene therapies represent a transformative frontier in modern medicine, offering potential cures for previously untreatable conditions. However, securing intellectual property (IP) protection for these innovations...more

DarrowEverett LLP

AI Created It—But Do You Own It? IP Issues Explained

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As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies increasingly generate content, designs, code, inventions, and even music, businesses face a pressing legal question: who owns the output when a machine creates it? The legal...more

Volpe Koenig

Intellectual Property in Popular Culture: When IP Goes “Pop”

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Like other areas of law, intellectual property (IP) is often depicted as part of a plot point in popular culture, such as movies and television. In addition, lP is often mentioned in the mass media, particularly when any...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

Jones Day

Delegated Rehearing Panel Sends Lifeline to Mercedes-Benz

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A Delegated Rehearing Panel (“DRP”) recently modified the PTAB’s construction of the claim term “workload” and remanded, giving Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC (“Petitioner”) another opportunity to challenge a processor patent....more

Jones Day

USPTO Acting Director Denies IPR Institution Based on "Settled Expectations"

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Under a new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") policy issued in March 2025, pre-institution inter partes review ("IPR") proceedings are now bifurcated, consisting of a first phase in which the director considers...more

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

New Settled Expectations Policy at the PTAB Augurs Major Practice Changes

In a startling development, Acting Director of the USPTO Coke Morgan Stewart has denied institution of an inter partes review (IPR) on the basis of “settled expectations,” on the sole ground that the subject patent had been...more

Volpe Koenig

“Settled Expectations” as the New Gatekeeper for PTAB Discretionary Denials: Why Late-Stage IPRs Are Getting Harder to File

Volpe Koenig on

When Acting USPTO Director Coke Morgan Stewart denied institution in Dabico v. AXA Power IPR2025-00408  Paper 21, much of the commentary focused on the result....more

Volpe Koenig

When an IDS Comes Back to Haunt You: Lessons from iRhythm v. Welch Allyn

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Patent attorneys are well-versed in the function of the Information Disclosure Statement (IDS) during prosecution. We understand that listing prior art in an IDS satisfies the duty of candor, helps insulate patents from...more

Knobbe Martens

Patent Scorecard – Ranking Patent Portfolios in the Aerospace Industry

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The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) recently released its 2025 “Patent Scorecard” where it analyzes and ranks companies with large patent portfolios in various industries, including aerospace. The...more

Jones Day

Applying Fintiv to a Parallel ITC Investigation

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The Patent Trial and Appeals Board (“PTAB”) recently denied institution of an inter partes review (“IPR”), exercising its discretion under 35 U.S.C. § 314(a)and Apple Inc. v. Fintiv Inc., IPR2020-00019 (PTAB Mar. 20, 2020)...more

Jones Day

April 2025 Institution Rate Slips Below 45 Percent

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The PTAB has published its monthly statistics wrap up for April 2025. As expected, those statistics show a significant decline in the institution rate compared to the first six months of the fiscal year. In those first six...more

Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.

Practical Guide to Claiming Small Molecules with Functional Language

Patent claims reciting compounds where at least one group of a compound genus is defined by its function are common. For example, familiar claim terms such as “chelating moiety,” “linker,” and “binding moiety” describe a...more

Jones Day

Acting Director Releases First Decisions Under New Bifurcated Process

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On May 16, 2025, USPTO Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart released the first four discretionary denial decisions under the PTAB’s new process. Under the new process, the parties separately brief discretionary denial issues...more

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