The final year of Director Vidal’s tenure as the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office was a busy year for rulemaking at the Office. Since late 2023, five Notices of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRMs) directly related to...more
The NPRM proposals align with interim guidance on requesting director review for key AIA trial decisions. Following the Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew ruling, director review by the USPTO Director remains crucial for addressing...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
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
In 2021, following the Supreme Court’s Arthrex decision, the PTO issued an interim procedure for requesting Director Review. The PTO has now issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) formalizing the Director Review...more
The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) proposed new rules governing the process for Director review of Patent Trial & Appeal Board decisions in America Invents Act (AIA) proceedings. Rules Governing Director Review of Patent...more
One year ago, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) that set forth several ideas related to America Invents Act (AIA) proceedings before the Patent Trial...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on April 19, 2024 aimed at codifying existing Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) practices while further improving “fairness,...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking to revise its rules on amendment practice under the America Invents Act (AIA). Specifically, the USPTO is proposing...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) today proposing to update its rules governing motions to amend before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). ...more
Today, the PTO announced proposed rulemaking to change the claim construction standard applied by the PTAB in IPR, PGR, and CBM proceedings. In particular, the PTO proposes replacing the broadest reasonable interpretation...more