Christopher Adams

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Who Invented This? The Continuing Importance of Human Ingenuity in Patenting AI Related Inventions

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are becoming an increasingly important part of our lives and are affecting almost every industry. In compliance with section 5.2(c)(i) of the President’s October 30, 2023 Executive Order (EO) 14110, titled “Safe, Secure, And Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)”, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued … Continue Reading

Human vs AI Analysis of USPTO Updates – How Does Bard Fare?

Generative Artificial Intelligence is a type of artificial intelligence (AI) that can generate a wide range of content types in response to user prompts. Examples of such content can include text, images, audio and video content, etc. There has been pervasive use of Generative AI over the past few months, to create essays, works of … Continue Reading

Timing is Essential for Filing Interlocutory Appeals — Do Not Wait for All Issues to be Resolved

The Federal Circuit recently dismissed an interlocutory appeal filed by LG Electronics as untimely because LG filed its notice of appeal more than seven months after the district court’s order disposing of all LG post-trial motions except for its post-trial motion on damages. The opinion stands as a lesson to all parties contemplating an appeal … Continue Reading

DoD Launches New Platform to Connect Inventors with “Trusted” Venture Funding

On January 13, 2021, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced the launch of its Trusted Capital Digital Marketplace (TCDM) to support qualified small and medium sized businesses (“Domestic Companies”) that make up the defense industrial base (DIB). The TCDM establishes a forum to provide selected innovative domestic companies with access to “vetted” sources of private … Continue Reading

Happy Holidays from the USPTO — Or Maybe Not

As it has done in the past, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has declared Thursday, December 24, in addition to Friday, December 25, to be a “federal holiday.” The action comes as a result of President Trump’s December 11, 2020 Executive Order extending the traditional Christmas Federal holiday. As a result of this … Continue Reading

Articles that Infringe Only after Importation can be Excluded by the ITC

The Federal Circuit recently affirmed the International Trade Commission’s (“ITC” or “Commission”) Opinion in Certain Digital Video Receivers and Hardware and Software Components Thereof,[1] holding that the ITC’s authority to exclude products from the United States is not limited to “articles that infringe” at the time of importation, but can include articles that infringe after … Continue Reading

PTAB Time-Bar Determinations Under 35 U.S.C. §315(b) Are Final and Not Appealable

Yesterday, in Thryv, Inc., f/k/a Dex Media, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies, LP, et al., the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the non-appealability of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) institution decisions encompasses PTAB decisions on whether a statutory time bar applies. More specifically, 35 U.S.C. §314(d), which sets forth the finality and nonappealability of … Continue Reading

Foreign-based Companies Can Meet the Section 337 Domestic Industry Requirement

The United States International Trade Commission (ITC) can provide a powerful alternative forum for enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights, including U.S. patents.[1] But there are limitations on the actions that can be brought at the ITC. For example, to bring an action for patent infringement at the ITC, a patent owner must demonstrate, inter alia, … Continue Reading

CARES Act Authorizes the PTO to Extend Patent and Trademark Deadlines during Coronavirus Emergency

Other Squire Patton Boggs articles on the SPB Coronavirus Hub have highlighted the many remedial provisions of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act of 2020. Intellectual Property owners were not left out. Section 12004 gives the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) the authority to “toll, waive, adjust, or modify” … Continue Reading

USPTO Launches New Innovation Platform To Improve Inventor Diversity

On March 24, 2020, the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) launched the “Expanding Innovation Hub” (“Hub”), a centralized online platform to make the patent process more accessible to diverse inventors. USPTO Director Andrei Iancu and Deputy Director Laura Peter described the Hub as part of the USPTO’s efforts to “inspire more women, minorities, veterans, … Continue Reading

Direct Appeals to the Federal Circuit: The Exclusive Avenue for Challenging the Final Written Decision of an Inter Partes Review

In a recent ruling in Personal Audio, LLC v. CBS Corp., the Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court’s final judgment, which reversed a prior $1.3 Million jury verdict in Plaintiff’s favor. It found Personal Audio’s constitutional arguments raised in its appeal to the Federal Circuit were barred by its prior appeal of the US Patent … Continue Reading

The Government Does Not Have Standing to Challenge Patents Under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA)

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a 6-3 decision on June 10, 2019 holding that the Government was not a “person” capable of instituting one of the three AIA patent review proceeding described below.  This holding overturned a prior decision by Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) in favor of the United States … Continue Reading

Options for Amending Patents Challenged under the America Invents Act

On April 22, 2019, the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) published a notice in the Federal Register regarding the existing options available for Patent Owners to amend their patents during or after an America Invents Act (“AIA”) challenge proceeding. This notice did not amend or alter existing USPTO practices, but instead summarized and clarified … Continue Reading

The Federal Circuit Continues to Narrow the Eligibility Standards for CBM Review of Patents Under the AIA

In its recent ruling in IBG LLC v. Trading Techs. Int’l, the Federal Circuit vacated determinations by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) on patents relating to a graphical user interface (“GUI“), holding that the patents were “not … technological inventions” and were therefore ineligible for Covered Business Method Patent Review (“CBM review”). The … Continue Reading

How Selecting The Wrong Prior Art References Will Doom An IPR

The Federal Circuit recently affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) inter partes review (“IPR”) decision in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. v. Finjan, Inc., No. 2017-2059, holding that the PTAB did not err in concluding that a person of ordinary skill would not have combined certain prior art identified by Palo Alto Networks, Inc. … Continue Reading

The Service Date of a Patent Infringement Complaint Begins the One Year Clock for Filing an Inter Partes Review Petition

In Click-to-Call Technologies, LP v. Oracle Corporation, No.2015-1242 (en banc), the Federal Circuit has overturned the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s longstanding interpretation of 35 U.S.C. §315(b)’s time bar for inter partes review (“IPR”) petitions, finding that the service of any civil complaint for patent infringement— even if later dismissed—starts the clock on the statute’s one-year … Continue Reading

Seeking Attorneys’ Fees Under the Patent Act? Early and Clear Notice of an Opposing Party’s Deficient Litigation Conduct Is a Prerequisite for a Successful Motion

The Federal Circuit recently issued a precedential decision in Stone Basket Innovations, LLC v. Cook Medical LLC, No. 2017-2330 that has important ramifications for litigants seeking attorneys’ fees under Section 285 of the Patent Act. Section 285 authorizes a court to award reasonable attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party in “exceptional cases.”  In Octane Fitness, … Continue Reading

Failure To Name Joint Inventors May Bar Patentability

Following a rejection by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) under section 102(f) for a rehabilitative dog harness, the Federal Circuit recently affirmed the rejection because the applicant “did not himself solely invent the subject matter sought to be patented.”  In re VerHoef, No. 2017-1976 (Fed. Cir. May 3, 2018). Jeff VerHoef built … Continue Reading

Giving Defendants a Second Chance: Failure to Assert Improper Venue Prior to TC Heartland is Not a Waiver Under the Federal Rules

In its May 2017 decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, LLC, 137 S.Ct. 1514 (2017), the Supreme Court shocked the patent world by restricting the range of permissible venues in patent infringement cases for  domestic corporations.  (See our prior posts, here and here).  The Federal Circuit has now found – in … Continue Reading

No Clear Consensus on Patent Venue During TC Heartland Oral Argument

Further to our colleagues’ prior blogs on this matter (here, here, and here), on March 27, the US Supreme Court heard arguments in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC  to decide whether 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b) (“patent venue statute”) is the sole and exclusive provision controlling venue in patent infringement actions or … Continue Reading
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