Attorney-client privilege refers to the protection of confidential communications made for the purpose of obtaining or providing legal advice. Application of and exceptions to this privilege are fact-based determinations made...more
Originally published in IP Watchdog on February 22, 2018. Patent agents in the United States are authorized to practice in patent prosecution matters before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Such...more
Earlier on November 7, 2017, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") published its Final Rule establishing the attorney-client privilege for application in PTAB proceedings. Before the...more
In 2011, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) established new post-issuance procedures for challenging the validity of a granted patent before the Patent Trials and Appeal Board (“PTAB” or “Board”). Inter partes...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) recently proposed a patent-agent privilege that would bring needed consistency to the discovery phase of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) proceedings....more
Several recent court decisions have shed light on the patent agent privilege, and now the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking to weigh-in on the issue....more
When Congress created the post-issuance proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board as part of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ("AIA"), it did so with the recognition that they would be adjudicatory in nature. ...more
Introduction - Patent agents are licensed to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), and perform the same duties as patent attorneys in proceedings before the USPTO, including preparing...more
Federal Circuit Upholds Broad Scope of CBM Review and Explains that an Internet Reference Must be Indexed by a Search Engine to Qualify as a Prior Art Publication - In Blue Calypso, LLC v. Groupon, Inc., Appeal Nos....more
In In re Queen’s University At Kingston, a divided panel of the Federal Circuit recognized a limited “attorney”-client privilege for patent agents. The majority’s decision to recognize a patent agent privilege is based...more