On September 16, 2021, eleven congressional leaders (“the Signors”) sent a letter to Andrew Hirshfeld, the acting director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), requesting the USPTO to reevaluate the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB”) view on discretionary denials of petitions for inter partes review (“IPR”). The Office uses discretionary denials
In some circumstances, patent applicants may petition the Patent Office to suspend non-statutory rules under 37 CFR § 1.183. As the text of the rule indicates, the Patent Office will only grant such petitions “[i]n an extraordinary situation, when justice requires,” but does not clarify the type of situations where this requirement would be met.
Earlier this month, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a notice in the Federal Register providing guidance regarding the proper presentation of prophetic examples and working examples in a patent application. According to the guidance, the proper presentation of prophetic and working examples requires them to be described in a manner such
This week, in United States v. Arthrex, Inc., the Supreme Court vacated and remanded a decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“the CAFC”), holding that the administrative patent judges (“APJs”) at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) are unconstitutionally appointed. While the CAFC came to the same conclusion
On April 15, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) implemented the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program (“Pilot Program”) to fast-track ex parte appeals of products or processes subject to an applicable FDA approval for COVID-19 use.
Generally, appeals to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) are taken up for decision in
Last month, in January 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) published a memorandum (the “January 2021 Memorandum”) clarifying how it will analyze claims for indefiniteness in AIA post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), namely patented claims in PGRs and CBMs and proposed substitute claims in IPRs. Prior to
On October 20, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO” or “Office”) published in the Federal Register “Request for Comments on Discretion To Institute Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board” seeking public comments on the appropriate considerations for instituting trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) under the Leahy-Smith
Moderna, one of the global leaders in developing a safe and effective vaccine to combat COVID-19, appears poised to get through clinical trials with a vaccine that is based on mRNA technology. As was recently announced, Pfizer demonstrated a 90% effectiveness with its vaccine, which is also based on mRNA technology. If all stays on
A motion recently filed by US Inventor, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California seeks a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to prevent the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO” or “Patent Office”) from instituting any new reviews of any patent until it solves the debate
On October 6, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark office (USPTO) released a report titled “Public Views on Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual property Policy.” The report follows the USPTO’s August 2019 request for comments on patenting AI inventions, and the USPTO’s October 2019 request for comments related to the impact of