Raj Pai, Ph.D.

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US PATENT FEE INCREASES FOR 2025: Not (Nearly) as Bad as They Could Have Been

Earlier this year, as we discussed here, here, and here, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) proposed a number of sweeping changes to the Office’s patent fees, including a very steep set of fees for filing terminal disclaimers, later continuation applications, and three or more requests for continued examination (RCEs). The … Continue Reading

Will Patents Become More Political? The PTO Begins to Implement Arthrex

In United States v Arthrex, the Supreme Court held that 35 U.S.C. §6(c), which sets forth the authority of Patent Trial & Appeal Board (“PTAB”) Administrative Patent Judges (“APJs”), is unconstitutional because APJs effectively wield the power of principal officers (who require Senate confirmation) while being appointed as inferior officers (who do not require Senate confirmation) … Continue Reading

Subject Matter Eligibility for Medical Diagnostic Claims – a Possible Path Forward?

On March 11, 2021, the Federal Circuit issued a precedential decision in In re PTAB of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University affirming a decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to maintain the examiner’s rejection of claims involving analysis of genetic data to determine inheritance. The Federal Circuit found that the … Continue Reading

Actual Definitions Can Help Avoid Erroneous Constructions of Patent Claims

On August 27, 2020, the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Baxalta Inc. v. Genentech, Inc. overturning the District Court’s ruling that Genentech did not infringe the claims of US Patent No. 7,033,590 and remanded for further proceedings. The Federal Circuit’s decision was based on its finding that the District Court’s claim construction was erroneous … Continue Reading

COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program

On May 8, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) began a Pilot Program to provide prioritized examination of patent applications of a product or process related to COVID-19 diagnosis or treatment. Examples of such patents include: an Investigational New Drug (IND) application, an Investigational Device Exemption (IDE), a New Drug Application (NDA), … Continue Reading

It’s Printed, but Is It Published? More Informative Guidance from the PTAB

In prior blog posts here and here, we explored various aspects of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (“PTAB”) analysis of documents as printed publications during patent examination and inter partes review (“IPR”). The PTAB’s Precedential Opinion Panel (“POP”) has been busy reviewing various decisions in this area, and recently designated four of them as … Continue Reading

Further Changes for Patent Validity Challenges at the PTAB May Favor Patentees

The America Invents Act’s creation of patent challenge proceedings to be conducted by the USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) provided a powerful tool for challenging patent validity outside of costly litigation proceedings. But recent events are changing the strategic advantage that such proceedings may hold for patent challengers.… Continue Reading
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