PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Patent Searching
U.S. patents are currently subject to maintenance fees paid to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years from the date of grant to keep the patent live. The maintenance fees escalate over the...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today the finalized fee increases taking effect on January 19, 2025. While applicants can still expect significant increases in certain areas, some proposed fee...more
The Director of the USPTO initiated sua sponte review of a PTAB panel’s decision to impose sanctions based on patentee’s conduct during IPR proceedings.The PTAB cancelled all of patentee’s claims, including those not...more
Blockchain is becoming central to more FinTech patent portfolios than ever – but it’s harder to obtain protection on blockchain than most other technologies. The US Supreme Court’s decision in Alice v. CLS Bank (2014)...more
To help you stay on top of the latest news, our AI practice group has compiled a roundup of the developments we are following....more
On April 30, 2024, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) issued a Request for Comment on how AI technology could affect the PTO’s evaluation of patentability, particularly with respect to qualifying prior art and the...more
In the 1950’s, Alan Turing famously asked, “Can machines think?” Decades later, artificial intelligence—a term coined after Turing’s death—has become a facet of our everyday lives. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be used...more
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are ushering in a new era in drug discovery. The AlphaFold2 system developed by Google’s Deepmind was able to predict the 3D structures of over 200 million proteins -...more
The recent resurgence in ex parte reexamination demonstrates the importance of this post-grant review vehicle. It has become particularly important for patent challengers who may be estopped from requesting inter partes...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued updated guidance on the duty of candor and duty to disclose in relation to submissions made to other government agencies, particularly the Food and Drug...more
Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is additional patent term for U.S. patents to compensate for delay in issuance. The statute (35 U.S.C. § 154(b)) provides three bases for PTA: delayed response by the USPTO (“A delay”), failure to...more
The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) issued a notice on July 29, 2022, titled “Duties of Disclosure and Reasonable Inquiry During Examination, Reexamination, and Reissue, and for Proceedings Before the Patent Trial and...more
For many start-up companies, the prospect of filing a patent application can be daunting. Even when a company has a potentially patentable invention, the company may be unsure about what materials it should compile before...more
Recently, high level policy changes with intellectual property (IP) have been taking place on a wide scale. When considering intellectual property protection, it is important to understand the different types of intellectual...more
Cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology are rapidly emerging as disruptive technologies. As has happened with many new technologies, particularly disruptive ones, a patent arms race is occurring. The number of patents...more
The USPTO has launched two new programs aimed at improving patent quality by joining forces with the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) or the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) at the initial stages of the patent...more
In This Issue: - Prior Art Redefined Under the AIA - PTAB Holds a Firm Line on Additional Discovery - The Art of Prior Art Searching - Anticipating a Federal Trade Secret Law - Trademark...more
Prior to filing a patent application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), an applicant seeking patent protection for an invention should consider conducting a prior art search. Also known as a...more
1. What is a patent? A patent is a right granted to inventors by the government to exclude others from making, selling, offering for sale, using, or importing an invention. The U.S. Government has issued over eight...more