News & Analysis as of

United States Patent and Trademark Office

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.... more +
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that serves a fundamental role in the U.S. intellectual property system by issuing patents and registering trademarks.    less -
Foley & Lardner LLP

Patent Fees Reimagined: Evaluating the Trump Administration's Value-Driven Fee Structure and Its Impact on Innovators

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The WSJ reports the Trump administration wants to charge patent holders 1% to 5% of their patent’s value to maintain the patent after grant. If implemented, this would mark a dramatic departure from the traditional flat-fee...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

USPTO Removes Reliance on Applicant Admitted Prior Art in IPR Proceedings

Womble Bond Dickinson on

On July 31, 2025, the acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a memorandum making a significant change in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes review (IPR) practice and...more

Wolf, Greenfield & Sacks, P.C.

Strategic Uses and Considerations for Reissue Applications (Part 1 of 3)

Reissue applications represent a very small fraction of the total number of applications filed at the USPTO each year. Indeed, at the midpoint of 2025, over 1.2 million utility applications have been filed, with less than 300...more

Venable LLP

PTAB Director Discretionarily Denies Opdivo® IPRs Based on Settled Expectations of Patent Owner

Venable LLP on

On July 24, 2025, the PTO Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart discretionarily denied Amgen’s IPR2025-00601 and IPR2025-00602 challenging Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (“BMS”) U.S. Patent Nos. 9,856,320 (“the ’320 patent”) and...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Ex Parte Reexaminations Poised to Make a Quiet Comeback: Discretionary Denial Guidance for Inter Partes Reexamination May Increase...

Baker Botts L.L.P. on

Imagine this. You were just served with a Complaint for patent infringement and learn that, some years ago, your competitor was granted a patent giving them a legal monopoly to exclude others, including you, from making,...more

K&L Gates LLP

USPTO Director Ends IPR Against Midas Green Technologies

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On 25 July 2025, K&L Gates secured an important win for its client, Midas Green Technologies, LLC. Acting USPTO Director Coke Morgan Stewart granted Director review and denied institution of an inter partes review (IPR)...more

K&L Gates LLP

Return to In-Person Patent Trial and Appeal Board Hearings

K&L Gates LLP on

Effective 1 September 2025, all hearings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will be conducted in person. Parties involved must attend these hearings physically and in person unless they can demonstrate a valid...more

Alston & Bird

Patent Case Summaries | Week Ending July 25, 2025

Alston & Bird on

IGT v. Zynga Inc., No. 2023-2262 (Fed. Cir. (PTAB) July 22, 2025). Opinion by Taranto, joined by Prost and Reyna. IGT owns a patent related to secured virtual networks in gaming environments. After the patent application was...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Game over: Prior interference doesn’t preclude IPR proceeding

McDermott Will & Emery on

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial & Appeal Board unpatentability determination during an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding, concluding that the Board’s decision to not apply...more

ArentFox Schiff

A Patent ‘Tax’? Key Implications for Patent Holders

ArentFox Schiff on

The US Department of Commerce is reportedly considering a significant overhaul of the current patent maintenance fee structure, proposing a shift from the established flat-fee system to an annual, value-based tax on patents....more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

IP Hot Topic: USPTO Doubles Down on Trademark Security – Is Your Email Current?

As part of its ongoing effort to stop scammers from third-party trademark applications and registrations, the USPTO has enhanced security of the Change Address or Representation (CAR) forms by adding authorization...more

Cranfill Sumner LLP

The Strategic Value of Trademark Search Before Brand Adoption and USPTO Application

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In the competitive landscape of branding and intellectual property, conducting a trademark search before adopting a brand name or filing a trademark application is not just best practice—it’s strategically necessary. This...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Death and Taxes Should not be Certainties for the Patent System

The Department of Commerce has floated a proposal to tax U.S. patent holdings as a means of reducing the national debt, as outlined in a recent Wall Street Journal article. It is a bad idea that reflects a troubling...more

Knobbe Martens

Applicant Admitted Prior Art Can (Sometimes) Show Obviousness

Knobbe Martens on

SHOCKWAVE MED., INC., V. CARDIOVASCULAR SYS., INC. - Before Lourie, Dyk, and Cunningham.  Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board in No. IPR2019-00405. In inter partes review...more

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

The Federal Circuit takes on Kisses, Sunlight, and Soft Drinks

An application for a US trademark may be rejected if it is likely, when used on or in connection with the goods of the applicant, to cause confusion with another registered mark. On July 23, in Sunkist Growers, Inc. v....more

ArentFox Schiff

USPTO Standardizes Timeline for Setting PTAB Filing Dates to Improve Predictability of Post-Grant Proceedings

ArentFox Schiff on

On July 18, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a revised practice for setting Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) filing dates for post-grant proceedings. Effective immediately, the PTAB will issue Notices...more

A&O Shearman

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

A&O Shearman on

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

Fox Rothschild LLP on

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

Roetzel & Andress

Trademark First: The Gateway to Amazon Brand Registry

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Amazon is the biggest third-party online marketplace in the United States and a go-to platform for numerous businesses. However, to get the most out of selling on Amazon, it is essential to join the Amazon Brand Registry....more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

What Should the USPTO Consider Changing for Implementing Post-Final Written Decision Estoppel in Ex Parte Reexamination Based on...

The estoppel provision of 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(1) had largely prevented requesters from challenging claims of a patent via ex parte reexamination after an inter partes review (IPR) that resulted in a final written decision...more

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt PC

Latest Federal Court Cases: IGT v. Zynga Inc.

IGT v. Zynga Inc., Appeal No. 2023-2262 (Fed. Cir. July 22, 2025) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit examined the reviewability and merits of the Patent Trial Appeal Board’s decision to institute inter...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Rise of Obviousness Double Patenting SNQs and Rejections in Reexaminations Challenging Expired Patents

Obvious-type double patenting (ODP) has historically served as a tool to prevent patent owners from extending exclusivity beyond the statutory allowed patent term and to tie patent families together during sale. Historically,...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Sterne Kessler’s Reissue, Reexamination, and Supplemental Examination Practice Tips – July 2025

In the mid-2000s, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) determined that reexaminations would be more consistent and legally correct if performed by a centralized set of experienced and specially trained Examiners. As a result, the...more

Dinsmore & Shohl LLP

AI Enters the Design Patent Arena as the USPTO Launches DesignVision

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In a significant step toward modernizing design patent examination, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has introduced DesignVision, a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered image search tool now available...more

Fenwick & West LLP

Federal Circuit Confirms: Prosecution History Disclaimer Applies to Design Patents Too

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Many industries rely on design patents to protect the look and feel of their products—especially when aesthetics drive customer interest, brand identity, or market differentiation. In Top Brand LLC v. Cozy Comfort Company...more

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