In January 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented a broad set of fee increases and structural adjustments intended to address rising operational costs and encourage more efficient patent...more
Patent prosecution—everything that takes places after a patent application is filed until it issues—can be a complex and lengthy process. A majority of time and attention is usually spent on getting a patent application...more
Recently, the government of Canada published the final version of the new Patent Rules (SOR/2019-251) in Canada Gazette, Part II on July 10, 2019. The new Rules and associated amendments to the Patent Act will come into force...more
2018 served up a smorgasbord of disparate patent law developments in Canada. Most notably, ratification of a new trade agreement negotiated amongst Canada, the United States and Mexico would require introduction of a patent...more
A Survey of Third Party Observation Systems - Third party observations can be a cost-effective way of introducing prior art or arguments related to patentability of a published patent application. The September 2018 issue...more
China is in the midst of a tremendous patent boom. Worldwide, total patent application filings were up 7.8% in 2015, with China accounting for 84% of the total growth[1]. In 2015, the State Intellectual Property Office of the...more
U.S. design patents and their international counterparts (generally termed “industrial designs”) protect the ornamental appearance of an article of manufacture. Design protection has been the subject of increased attention...more