5 Key Takeaways | Building a Winning Evidentiary Record at the PTAB (and Surviving Appeal)
Wolf Greenfield Attorneys Review 2024 and Look Ahead to 2025
Recognizing and Avoiding Trademark Scams and Hoaxes
The Briefing: A Very Patented Christmas – The Quirkiest Inventions for the Holiday Season
5 Key Takeaways | Alice at 10: A Section 101 Update
Director Review Under the USPTO's Final Rule – Patents: Post-Grant Podcast
(Podcast) The Briefing: Thirsty for Clarity – Brand Confusion In The Beverage Category
The Briefing: Thirsty for Clarity – Brand Confusion In The Beverage Category
SCOTUS and federal court rulings on TTAB decisions on granting trademarks and trademark renewals; Netflix settling an anticipated defamation case with a disclaimer and donation
Legal Alert: USPTO Proposes Major Change to Terminal Disclaimer Practice
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Trending Now: An IP Podcast - Artificial Intelligence Patents & Emerging Regulatory Laws
John Harmon on the Evolving Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Intellectual Property
Was the classic song “Over The Rainbow” plagiarized? How about a claim of copyright infringement against the script for “The Holdovers?” AI Legal strategies switch to claims of CMI removal
The Briefing: The Patent Puzzle: USPTO's Guidelines for AI Inventions
The Briefing: The Patent Puzzle: USPTO's Guidelines for AI Inventions (Podcast)
4 Key Takeaways | Updates in Standard Essential Patent Licensing and Litigation
Wolf Greenfield Attorneys Preview What’s Ahead in 2024
8 Key Takeaways | The Presumption of Irreparable Harm After the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020
(Podcast) The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional
The Briefing: SCOTUS to Determine if USPTO Refusal to Register TRUMP TOO SMALL is Unconstitutional
In Adaptive Energy LLC v. Central Coast Agriculture, Inc., the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) dismissed two oppositions for failure to prosecute. Oppositions Nos. 91275644 and 91280840 (April 11, 2025). The...more
New Interim Process for Patent Trial and Appeal Board Workload Management - The USPTO has fundamentally altered the PTAB institution decision framework through a March 26, 2025, memorandum from Acting Director Coke Morgan...more
Key Takeaways: - The Director, in consultation with at least three APJs, will now decide the discretionary denial question, rather than having the merits panel decide the issue. - Discretionary denial will have separate...more
In March 2019, Cologne & Cognac Entertainment of New Jersey filed a trademark application at the USPTO for recordings featuring music and artistic performances, music composition services, production of musical videos in the...more
Navigating patent infringement claims requires a deep understanding of both the legal landscape and the specifics of the technology at stake, especially in the fast-evolving cybersecurity sector. Creative litigation...more
In prior posts for this series, we have discussed areas of law where Commissioners have voiced their dissent and demonstrated a clear divide among the decision-makers. But when it comes to Standard Essential Patents (SEPs),...more
2023 was a calm year for the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) with no revisions to the USITC Rules & Procedures.1 And while the number of Section 337 complaints filed experienced a three-year low, administrative law...more
On October 6, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPR”) making changes to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB”) internal circulation and review of...more
The USPTO published Revision 07.2022 of the Ninth Edition of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). A change summary is available here....more
The PTAB Strategies and Insights newsletter provides timely updates and insights into how best to handle proceedings at the USPTO. It is designed to increase return on investment for all stakeholders looking at the entire...more
MOBILITY WORKX, LLC v. UNIFIED PATENTS, LLC Before Newman, Schall, and Dyk. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: Fee-funded structure of AIA review proceedings does not violate due process....more
In Carr v. Saul, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that a party can raise a challenge under the Constitution’s Appointments Clause to an Administrative Law Judge’s (“ALJ”) decision, even if the party did not raise the...more
USPTO News - ..Administrative Patent Judges Michael Cygan and Kristi L. R. Sawert, and Patent Attorney Thomas Volper discussed the one-year ex parte appeal, Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program, and what happens after PTAB...more
[co-author: Kathleen Wills] Last year, the global COVID-19 pandemic created unprecedented challenges for American courts. By making several changes, however, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit was able to...more
After a fair amount of end-of-year legislative drama, the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”) was signed into law on December 27, 2020 as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2021, which also included...more
What comes to mind when you think of “hot topics” in patent law? Subject matter eligibility? Obviousness? Damages? Quietly, administrative law has moved to the top of the list of issues that consume the attention of the Court...more
In a string of appeals from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has called into question the constitutional legitimacy of numerous inter partes and – as of this week – ex...more
On March 23, 2020, the Federal Circuit denied the petitions for rehearing en banc filed in Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew, a decision which found the appointment of Administrative Patent Judges (“APJs”) unconstitutional under the...more
When licensing discussions with an intransigent implementer break down, SEP owners face a difficult question: what remedies are available (injunctive relief or damages) in each U.S. court (International Trade Commission and...more
A weekly summary of the precedential patent-related opinions issued by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the opinions designated precedential or informative by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board....more
Last week, the Federal Circuit released its ruling on the constitutionality of Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge appointments (Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc., et al., No. 2018-2140 (Fed. Cir. October 31, 2019))....more
While design patents follow many of the same rules as utility patents, the application of those rules in determining design patent infringement can be less than straightforward. But a recent Initial Determination by ALJ...more
In the wake of Lucia v. SEC, where the Supreme Court held in June 2018 that Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) at the SEC are “officers” subject to the Appointments Clause, there have been challenges to the constitutionality of...more
Is the appointment of PTAB administrative patent judges (APJs) constitutional? The patent bar is asking in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Lucia v. SEC....more