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USPTO Seeks Comments on Discretion to Institute Trials Before the PTAB
On October 20, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a “Request for Comments on Discretion To Institute Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board” …
Will SCOTUS Tell Bad Spaniels to Roll Over?
Sometimes a dog toy is just a dog toy. Maybe that’s how Sigmund Freud would have put it; certainly, that’s the message from our client, …
Trade Dress Considerations for Food and Beverage Products
Companies trying to compete for supermarket shelf space and consumer attention frequently turn to packaging and product designs that will stand out. If the product succeeds, one …
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DOJ Takes Key Step Toward Breaking Up Big Tech with Antitrust Complaint Against Google
The U.S. Department of Justice and Attorneys General from 11 U.S. states filed a complaint on Tuesday in the United States District Court for the District …
Patent Filings Roundup: Video Codec Wars, Gaming Industry Stung by Section 325 Discretionary Denial, Remote Surgical Robotics Suit Filed
Patent filings were down ever so slightly last week, with 30 Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) petitions filed (29 inter partes reviews [IPRs] and one post grant review […
Getting a Patent: The Devastating Consequences of Not Naming All Inventors
Naming the correct inventors is critical when drafting a U.S. patent. Patents must have all inventors properly named. Deciding who is an inventor is a complicated …
Trademarks are for Sellers: Banksy Store Created for Trademark Defense Fails to Protect ‘Flower Thrower’
One of street artist Banksy's most iconic images—a mural sprayed on a Jerusalem building of a protester preparing to hurl flowers—failed to win trademark approval …
Practice Tips Following USPTO Guidance on Applicant Admitted Prior Art
On August 18, 2020, the USPTO issued a guidance memorandum on the treatment of applicant statements in the challenged patent in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings under Section 311, which …
China’s NMPA and CNIPA Propose Draft Measures on Patent Linkage for Public Comment: Implications for the Future of Innovative and Generic Drugs
The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), in conjunction with the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA), recently solicited public comments on the draft of “Measures For the …
One For The Team
Informal Drawings is a comic-strip devoted to patent attorneys, examiners, and inventors. New comics are published weekly. Prints and coffee mugs may be purchased at patentspace.net/…
USPTO Appoints Mary Critharis Acting Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs
Yesterday, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that Mary Critharis has been appointed as the USPTO’s Acting Chief Policy Officer and Director for …
The Price of Paice and Complexity: Rules, Standards and Facts for Post-Judgment Royalty Consideration
The Supreme Court and Federal Circuit permit prevailing patentees to obtain a higher royalty rate for an infringer’s post-judgment infringing sales. But whatever the reason, district …
This Week in Washington IP: Technologies for Military Readiness, Enforcing IP Rights in China and Alternative Dispute Resolution for Copyright Small Claims
This week in Washington IP events, the House of Representatives remains quiet during its district work period. Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing will focus mainly on …
Federal Circuit Rejects St. Jude’s Challenge to Validity of Snyders’ Heart Valve Patent
On October 15, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), in St. Jude Medical, LLC v. Snyders Heart Valve LLC, affirmed an inter partes …
Unexpectedly Active IP Legal Market Bucks Recession Trends and Boosts Outlook
At the onset of the U.S. COVID-19 pandemic in early March 2020, the legal community immediately became concerned about its economic prospects. Particularly in the intellectual property (…
Late-Filed Petitions Dismissed as Untimely by USPTO: No Apparent Rhyme nor Reason (Part III)
While researching the newly codified Manual of Patent Examination Procedure (MPEP) Section 706.07(b), we noticed some petitions filed more than two months after the final Office action …
CAFC Affirms District Court Dismissal of Declaratory Judgment Under Doctrine of ‘Abstention’
On October 14, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), in Warsaw Orthopedic, Inc. v. Sasso, affirmed a decision of a district court dismissing …
3D Printing: Adoptability, Assurance, IP and Consumer Concerns
Conceiving of an idea and then turning that idea into an actual end-product were two distinct processes prior to the era of 3D printing. But thanks to …
Mandamus Petition to CAFC Sets Up Showdown Between Article III Courts and Stacked PTAB Panels
On August 13, Sand Revolution LLC filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The petition asks the …
Other Barks & Bites for Friday, September 4: CAFC Issues Modified Opinion in Facebook v. Windy City, USIJ Letter to Senate Supports PTAB Reforms, and United States Holds Third in WIPO Global Innovation Index
This week in Other Barks & Bites: Modified Opinion issued in Facebook v. Windy City at CAFC; the Alliance for U.S. Startups and Inventors for Jobs (USIJ) …
What’s Fair? Senate IP Subcommittee Contemplates Problems with Copyright Fair Use Regime
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property on Tuesday continued its year-long series of hearings on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), this time focusing …
CAFC Evenly Splits on En Banc Rehearing of American Axle’s Driveshaft Patent Case
On Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued Orders granting a request for panel rehearing and denying a request for rehearing …
United States is Third Again in WIPO Global Innovation Index 2020
Last week, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) issued the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2020 report jointly with Cornell University, INSEAD and the 2020 GII Knowledge Partners, which included …
Qualcomm Vindicated in Ninth Circuit Reversal of California Court’s Antitrust Ruling
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit today vacated a decision of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California finding …
Senator Tillis Urges USPTO to Adopt Administrative Changes
On August 10, Senator Tillis, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, sent a letter to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director …
Microsoft Supports Epic Games’ Complaint Against Apple for Anti-Competitive Practices
On August 23, Microsoft filed a declaration in support of Epic Games, Inc.’s August 13th Complaint for Injunctive Relief against Apple, Inc., in which Epic alleged that …
A Look Inside Patent Processes at the USPTO: Effects of the Pandemic and Upcoming Changes
On Thursday, July 30, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Commissioner for Patents Drew Hirshfeld and other USPTO staff updated attendees of IPWatchdog and LexisNexis’ webinar, “A …
Techtronic Dismisses Chamberlain Petition to SCOTUS as ‘Nothing Important’
On August 7, Techtronic Industries filed a brief in opposition to The Chamberlain Group’s petition to the U.S. Supreme Court asking for review of “whether the …
Judge Dyk Departs from Majority’s Obviousness Analysis on Gaming Service Patent Claim
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a decision of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that found FanDuel had failed to prove that claim 6 of Interactive …
A Guide to Arthrex: Activity Heats Up in Petitions Pending with Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is currently considering several pleas to review the holding in Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew I and Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew II in the form …
Judge Michel, Panelists Contemplate the CAFC Past, Present and Future on Day Two of CON2020
Headlining day two of IPWatchdog’s CON2020 was Retired U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Chief Judge Paul Michel, who offered attendees 12 “perspectives” …
Big Tech Strategies on China are About to Backfire
Why are the tech companies so in love with China? Are they are begging for China to steal their intellectual property? Sometimes it feels that way. The …
Could COVID-19 Counterfeit Concerns Get Congress to Move Towards Passage of the Counterfeit Goods Seizure Act?
In late July, water bottle maker Hydro Flask and parent company Helen of Troy Limited filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) asking …
Registering your website with the Chinese government?
Doing business in China is exciting and potentially lucrative; however, there are “hidden” traps. Most of these hidden traps have been extensively discussed in the Western world – …
What happens when lifestyle drugs like Viagra and Cialis lose patent protections?
Each year, millions of men rely on pharmaceuticals like Viagra and Cialis for their erectile dysfunction (ED), but they may not be the only ones facing dysfunctionalities. …
The Myth of the 18-Month Delay in Publishing Patent Applications
Starting in November 2000, the USPTO started publishing patent applications 18 months after their earliest filing date. So the simple assumption is that you file a patent and 18 months …
Top Patent Law Firms for 2017
We compiled a list of the top patent firms that are ranked based on the total number of U.S. utility patents that issued in 2017 where the …
Reflections on Taking the Patent Bar Exam
If you are reading this article beyond the title, you are either preparing to take the USPTO’s patent bar exam or you are considering whether you …
Alternate Approaches to the Valuation of Intellectual Property
Techniques for valuing intellectual property continue to develop, especially as access to information becomes easier and more efficient. The practice of valuing intellectual property has only been …
Federal Circuit Affirms TTAB Refusal to Register ‘CHURRASCOS’
In a May 13, 2016 decision, the Federal Circuit affirmed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision upholding an Examiner’s denial of registration based on a finding …
Design Patent Infringement: How to decide if you should sue
First, look at the merits of the infringement claim. They may be stronger than you think, and you can thank a 2008 ruling for that. That year, the …
Top Patent Firms for 2016
A list of the top patent firms that are ranked based on the total number of U.S. utility patents that issued in 2016 where the patent firms …
Beat the Odds: How to Get Your Invention Licensed
Many inventors believe the way to get a company interested in their inventions is to write a letter – and then hope they receive an invitation to begin …
Does University Patent Licensing Pay Off?
Patent licensing or creating new companies is not a get rich quick path for schools despite the occasional blockbuster invention or Google spin-out. Indeed, enriching universities is …
These Are the 20 Hardest and Easiest Art Units
Art Unit 3689 has the lowest allowance rate at 7.7%. Art Unit 3659 has the highest at 98.3%. Oddly enough, these two art units are from the same technology center. It’…
Comic-Con Considerations: Cosplay, the Right of Publicity, and Copyright Concerns
For as much as Comic-Con is about comics, TV, and upcoming movies, it’s not hard to see that a large portion of its allure for fans …
Do Patents Truly Promote Innovation?
Invention, it has been shown, is driven primarily not by genius or happenstance but rather by markets and the expectation of the profit that can be gained …
10 Years Later – A Look at the Efficacy of the Pre-Appeal Brief Conference Program
For 61% of the non-defective requests, the panel decided that there was an actual issue for appeal, such that the applicant would either need to file an Appeal …
The Cost of Obtaining a Patent in the US
Estimating US patent costs is a difficult matter because so much depends on the technology involved, but answering "it depends" is not particularly insightful or helpful. What …
Protecting Ideas: Can Ideas Be Protected or Patented?
Unfortunately, despite what you may have heard from late night television, satellite radio commercials or snake oil salesmen, there is no effective way to protect an idea… …
Patent Searching 101: A Patent Search Tutorial
Inventors and entrepreneurs who are looking to cut costs frequently want to do their own patent search. This is a wise first move, but inventors need to …
The Top 5 Mistakes Inventors make with their Invention
Generally speaking the first step toward commercializing an invention and making money is typically to pursue the patent path. For those new to the industry it is …
Patent Claim Drafting 101: The Basics
When writing a claim it is important to describe how the various components are structured and how the various components interact and connect. First, include a claim …
Moving from Idea to Patent – When Do You Have an Invention?
In order to protect an idea it must mature into an invention first. This means that you need to be able to explain to others how to …
The Law of Recipes: Are Recipes Patentable?
In most cases the typical recipe for a "killer Margarita" or "the best barbeque sauce ever" will not be patentable, but the only way to know for …
Tricks & Tips to Describe an Invention in a Patent Application
One excellent way to make sure you are including an appropriately detailed description that treats a variety of variations and alternatives is to have many professional patent …
Getting Your Invention to Market: Licensing vs. Manufacturing
Of course, whether you are going to pursue licensing or manufacturing, for the first lesson is to realize that there are no tricks to invention marketing. It …
Patent Drawings and Invention Illustrations, What do you Need?
If you are going to file a patent application you must have drawings to include in the application, but patent drawings are not the only type of "…
Provisional Patents: What are they and why do you need them?
The first thing to say is this: there is no such thing as a provisional patent. You can, however, file what is known as a provisional patent …
Patent Drawings 101: The Way to Better Patent Applications
To properly accomplish the goal of having the best disclosure possible you should also not think in terms of a single patent drawing or illustration, but rather …
Design Patents: The Under Utilized and Overlooked Patent
Typically an inventor wants to protect the function of the invention when at all possible. But what if you cannot get a utility patent because the underlying …
Good, Bad & Ugly: Truth About Provisional Patent Applications
Whether that provisional patent application can ever be useful moving forward is unknown and unknowable at the time it is filed, which allows for those who knowingly …
Utility Patent Applications – Content and Substance
In order to obtain a utility patent one must file what is referred to as a non-provisional application or a non-provisional utility application. It is called “non-provisional” …
