Reminder: Are You Monitoring Your Competitors’ Patents for Post-Grant Review? There were many changes implemented by the USPTO as a result of the America Invents Act (“AIA”or generally Patent Reform). One these is the post-grant procedure (also referred to as Post-Grant Review (PGR)) for challenging the validity of a competitor’s patent. However, there is a very limited time frame during which this useful procedure can […] Continue Reading →
Sales, Public Disclosure, and the One-Year Grace Period The America Invents Act (AIA) changed a number of provisions in the Patent Act (Title 35, U.S.C.). While many of these changes have not yet been subjected to scrutiny through litigation, a large number have been the subject of analysis by the USPTO, by virtue of their implementation into the rules of patent examination. Among […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Opens Two New Regional Offices Under the America Invents Act, the USPTO has the capability to open regional offices to assist inventors and businesses with their intellectual property needs. Recently, two new regional offices were opened: San Jose, California and Dallas, Texas. The San Jose Office opened on October 15, 2015 and is located within the Silicon Valley’s central business […] Continue Reading →
Are electronic transmissions “articles”within 19 U.S.C. § 1337? The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) is authorized by federal law (39 U.S.C. § 1337) to take action against the “importation … of articles that (i) infringe a valid and enforceable U.S. patent.”USITC investigations represent an alternative to federal court intellectual property litigation, and may be especially useful where the allegedly infringing act involves […] Continue Reading →
Assessing the Value of Trade Secrets (Part 2 of Trade Secret Series) Filewrapper® previously introduced a new series of blog postings on the value and role of trade secrets, along with strategies to ensure protection. Before diving into best practices for protection this post provides an outline of the value trade secrets can provide to a company or to a particular technology. Often a value assessment goes […] Continue Reading →