Posts in USPTO

Washington, D.C. NFL Team Loses Race to the Trademark Office: Does it Matter?

As previously reported, Washington, D.C.’s professional football team announced recently that it has decided to retire the “Redskins” name and logo. In surveys throughout the Washington, D.C. metro area, three possible replacement names have emerged as favorites among the fans: Warriors, Red Wolves, and Redtails. Armed with the knowledge of the name change and the relative popularity of the possible replacement names, two enterprising individuals have applied to obtain a federal trademark registration for the marks WARRIORS, WASHINGTON RED WOLVES, and WASHINGTON REDTAILS, respectively. Neither applicant appears to be connected to the owners of the Washington D.C. professional football team.

Over O’Malley’s Dissent, CAFC Affirms PTAB View that IPR Claim Amendments Are Subject to Eligibility Analysis

On July 22, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed a decision of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the Board) in Uniloc 2017, LLC v. HULU, LLC. In particular, the CAFC found that the case was not moot despite a prior CAFC judgment of invalidity and that the Board did not err in rejecting Uniloc’s Request for Rehearing on the basis of Section 101 invalidity of the proposed substitute claims. Judge O’Malley issued a strong dissent, accusing the majority of “breath[ing] life into a dead patent and us[ing] the zombie it has created as a means to dramatically expand the scope of inter partes review (“IPR”) proceedings.”

Patent Filings Roundup: Gig Economy Targeted, Takeda Defends ADHD Drug VYVANSE®, Snap’s Me-too Joinder Petitions Discretionarily Denied

It was a relatively light week in the district court compared with recent memory, with 56 new complaints filed; the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is holding steady with 27 filings (all inter partes reviews [IPRs] this week), a number nearly identical to the totals for the past few months. The District Court activity was driven by new complaints in existing campaigns, some new ANDA/aBLA litigations related to pharmaceutical generic entry, a smattering of company disputes, and a new campaign by Raymond Anthony Joao. At the Board, a trickle of petitions filed as part of ongoing licensing disputes between Dolby and Intertrust, some further challenges in the funded Neodron suits, some further filings by Verzion against Huawei, and a number of petitions in response to non-practicing entity (NPE) suits made up the balance.

Washington’s NFL Team is in a Race Against Time to Find Its New Trademark

After decades of legal battles in which they ultimately succeeded in maintaining the legal right to federal trademark registration of the “REDSKINS” moniker—through the separate efforts of an Asian band by the name of “The Slants”—Washington, D.C.’s National Football League (NFL) team finally succumbed to pressure to change their name. Faced with the immediate prospect of losing $45 million from a stadium naming rights deal with Federal Express, on July 13, 2020, the team announced it would have a new name and logo. Still to come: the new name and logo.

Patent Office Insights from Two Former Examiners

In the United States patent system, patent applications are handled by two separate, yet equally important, groups: the patent practitioners, who prepare and prosecute applications on behalf of inventors or their assignees; and the patent examiners, who examine the applications for the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for patentability under U.S. patent law. Ryan Potts worked at the USPTO for over seven years, including several as a primary examiner, before joining Lando & Anastasi. Rob Lichter worked at the USPTO as a junior patent examiner before becoming a law firm associate. The following is a list of tips and insights to understanding and interacting with U.S. patent examiners.

Federal Circuit Affirms District Court Ruling that Dana-Farber Inventors Must Be Added to Patents for Cancer Treatment

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute last week had its district court win affirmed when the Federal Circuit upheld a decision that two of the Institute’s researchers must be added as co-inventors on several patents relating to advancements in cancer treatment. The Court ruled that the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts did not err in its determination that Dr. Gordon Freeman and Dr. Clive Wood should be added to the patents, and said that the appellants’ arguments would require the Court to “adopt an unnecessarily heightened inventorship standard.” Ono Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Tasuku Honjo, E.R. Squibb & Sons, L.L.C., and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (collectively, “Ono”) appealed the district court’s ruling.