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All Roads Lead to Rome at the USPTO

Since the iRhythm IPRs on which we blogged recently, there have been two more (actually, many more) decisions that are leaving petitioners scratching their heads. In Dabico, the Acting USPTO Director discretionarily denied an IPR petition because of “settled expectations,” the same rationale as in iRhythm. The Acting Director went further and criticized the petitioner … Continue Reading

The Court Can Wait; The Patent Office Cannot

In a set of astonishing identical Director Review decisions, the Acting USPTO Director discretionarily denied five IPR petitions whose proceedings would have concluded over seven months before the underlying patent infringement suit would have gone to trial. The Acting Director reasoned that the petitioner waited too long to file its IPR petitions because, even though … Continue Reading

Call It Out When You Think the Examiner Has Overlooked Prior Art

The patent statute 35 U.S.C. § 325(d) allows the USPTO Director to deny institution of an IPR when “the same or substantially the same prior art or arguments previously were presented to the Office.” In IPR practice, relying on prior art that already had been before the PTO is perfectly acceptable. Under the 2020 decision in … Continue Reading

USPTO Expedites Patent Issuance: Things To Do Before Paying the Issue Fee

In an effort to offer customers better service, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has been modernizing various aspects of their operations. One result of the modernization and efficiency efforts relates to expedited patent issue dates. On April 15th, the Patent Office announced that ― starting on May 13th, 2025 ― it will be … Continue Reading

Federal Circuit Limits Use of Applicant Admitted Prior Art in Inter Partes Reviews

As provided by statute at 35 U.S.C. § 311(b), a petitioner in an inter partes review (IPR) may challenge the claims of a patent “only on the basis of prior art consisting of patents or printed publications.” Does this provision permit IPR challenges based on Applicant Admitted Prior Art (AAPA) ― art identified in the … Continue Reading

Whither Discretionary Denials? Read the Tea Leaves, or Follow the Bread Crumbs? (Part II)

In Part I of this set of blogs, we discussed the impact of the rescission of former USPTO Director Vidal’s Guidance Memorandum for handling discretionary denials in inter partes review proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. We also discussed Chief Judge Boalick’s Guidance Memorandum on the rescission. In Part II, we examine a … Continue Reading

Whither Discretionary Denials? Read the Tea Leaves, or Follow the Bread Crumbs?(Part I)

Recent actions from the USPTO have engendered a great deal of discussion among the bar practicing before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. On February 28, 2025, acting Director Stewart rescinded former Director Vidal’s Guidance Memorandum for handling discretionary denials in inter partes review proceedings before the Board. On March 24, 2025, Chief Judge Boalick … Continue Reading

ITC Confirms that a Disclaimer from a Later Patent Applies to the Same Term in an Earlier Related Patent

In a November 6, 2024 opinion in Certain Computing Devices Utilizing Indexed Search Systems and Components Thereof, the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) held that statements, disclaimers, and positions taken during the prosecution of a later patent apply to the construction and interpretation of the same term in an earlier related patent. Using this standard, … Continue Reading

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

Dysfunctional Patent Families: The Federal Circuit Draws Two Different Conclusions on Whether a Later-Filed Patent Can Invalidate an Earlier-Filed One in the Same Family

When a patent application is allowed, the claims may not precisely cover everything that the applicant wants to protect. Rather than add new claims after a notice of allowance and prolong prosecution, applicants will commonly file one or more continuation applications to pursue different claims. The continuation has substantially the same specification and drawings as … Continue Reading

Part III: You’ve Got Patents! Or Someone Else Does… Where Can You Find Resolution?

As noted in Part I of this series, patent litigation can be a mechanism for parties to spar and evaluate patent rights, as well as each other, prior to making the business agreements that settle such disputes. Once a patent is asserted to be infringed with the filing of a lawsuit, the dispute can become … Continue Reading

The USPTO’s Proposed Terminal Disclaimer Rule Change: It’s Radical, But Is It Legal?

In a May 10, 2024, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the USPTO proposed sweeping changes in the rules governing the filing of terminal disclaimers. If the USPTO implements the proposed changes, entire patent families could be wiped out if just one claim of one patent in the family is found invalid over prior art. Patent … Continue Reading

Intelligent AI Guidance from the USPTO Identifies Potential Perils

Much like word processing with spell check and other now commonplace digital tools were once only the stuff of science fiction, artificial intelligence (AI) is quickly becoming widespread in knowledge work including law practice. IP law is no exception. The use of AI in IP law practice has practical benefits, including the potential for enhanced … Continue Reading

The USPTO Proposes Steep RCE Fees. Will Patent Prosecution and Appeal Strategies Change?

As discussed in two of our recent blogs (here) and here), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) recently proposed substantial patent fee increases for continuing applications and terminal disclaimers. The USPTO is also proposing substantial increases for an applicant to request continued examination of an application whose claims have been rejected, … Continue Reading

Are the USPTO’s Proposed Terminal Disclaimer Fees the End of Continuing Applications?

As discussed in our previous blog (here), the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) has proposed substantial surcharges for filing continuing applications, depending on the timing of filing. The USPTO is also proposing substantial increases for an applicant to file a terminal disclaimer. As we discuss below, these increases are likely to affect strategies … Continue Reading

The Potential Mushroom Effect of the USPTO’s Mushrooming Patent Application Fees

The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) recently proposed patent fee increases could have far-ranging consequences for applicants looking to build a patent family from a single patent application. In this first of a series of blogs, we will discuss the potential consequences of the USPTO’s proposed fee increases for continuing applications, including continuation, … Continue Reading

The USPTO Re-Explains What “Means” Means

On March 18, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Memorandum containing guidance to help patent examiners analyze claim language that may be interpreted as “means-plus-function” or “step-plus-function” language under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f). The USPTO said that the Memorandum was not a change in practice for examiners. Sometimes, however, how something … Continue Reading

Don’t Fall for These Ubiquitous Trademark Scammers

Over the past several months, we have seen an increase in notices from alleged trademark firms. The emails are identical or substantially similar to the following: Hi [recipient], I hope this email finds you in good health. I am writing to you on behalf of the legal department of [Trademark Firm]. We have received an … Continue Reading

The USPTO Speaks on Obviousness – Do Patent Practitioners Have an Answer?

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently published updated guidance emphasizing a very flexible approach to determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103, consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in KSR v. Teleflex. The guidelines are written for USPTO personnel but combined with the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), they provide … Continue Reading

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

Podcast: SPB’s Paolo Beconcini Covers Global Counterfeiting and the Importance of Protecting Your Brand in China

Counterfeiting is a global problem that affects a wide variety of entrepreneurs and innovators – from small businesses to global corporations.  Action in China can be an important tool for combating these problems.  Head of the firm’s China Intellectual Property team, Paolo Beconcini covers the complex challenges of fighting global counterfeiting for INDICAM (Italian Association … 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

Rulemaking at the US Patent Office: Does Director Guidance On Discretionary Denials of Review Require Opportunity for Public Comment?

The Federal Circuit has refused to uphold the dismissal of a complaint alleging that the Director of the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) improperly issued instructions to PTAB judges regarding whether to institute requested patent review proceedings. The complaint alleges that the so-called Fintiv factors – initially set forth in two opinions designated by the … Continue Reading

Putting the Appeals of Both Sides to Bed: PTAB Rulings on the Patentability of Systems and Methods for Adjusting Air Pressure in a Mattress Affirmed

The Federal Circuit recently handed down an informative decision in American National v. Sleep Number Corporation affirming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s final decisions in two inter partes reviews finding some claims patentable and some claims not patentable. The claims at issue related to the systems and methods for adjusting pressure in an air … Continue Reading
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