First Draft from Congress on Section 101 Reform

By Kirk M. Hartung

 On Wednesday May 22, 2019, the Senate and House Subcommittees on Intellectual Property released for comment their initial draft of legislative reform for Section 101 of the patent statutes. The biggest focus of this proposed legislation is an abolishment of the Supreme Court’s judicially created exceptions to patent eligibility, namely, abstract ideas, laws of nature, […]

Expanded Trademark Rights for Some Hemp-Related Products and Services

By Christine Lebron-Dykeman

Following up on the May 10, 2019, MVS Filewrapper post “Big Changes Ahead for Plant Variety Protection (PVP)”, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has also recently issued some guidance on how the 2018 Farm Bill affect trademark applications for cannabis and CBD products. Per the guidelines issued May 2, 2019, the USPTO […]

The USPTO Changes Patent Eligibility Guidelines

The United States Patent Office has released updates to subject matter eligibility guidelines under 35 USC §101. Along with these updates, the Office has provided slides and a webinar reviewing the changes, using the same materials provided in training of patent examiners. There are two parts to the analysis, Step 1, and Step 2A and […]

Big Changes Ahead for Plant Variety Protection (PVP)

By Heidi Sease Nebel

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been hard at work developing regulations to implement the 2018 Farm Bill. The Bill introduces unprecedented changes to the United States PVP system with respect to asexually reproduced plants and hemp. Proposed regulations to implement changes for asexually reproduced plants will soon be published for comment. Those […]

IP License Audits – Iowa LES Chapter Tackles the Issues

By Jill N. Link, Pharm.D.

The Licensing Executive Society (LES) Iowa Chapter met on Monday April 29th in Coralville, Iowa, and took a deep dive into issues with auditing Intellectual Property (IP) license agreements. Other issues of IP valuation were also discussed by two accounting experts from Sikich. The discussions brought to the forefront issues commonly associated with IP license […]

First Cannabis-Related Patent Makes its Way through the Federal Courts: What it Teaches, and What it Does Not

By Blog Staff

In the past 25 years, there has been substantial growth surrounding the developments within the cannabis industry, particularly involving intellectual property protections. With legalization of cannabis gaining traction across the United States, any court guidance can provide a foundation for those seeking patent protection. Opportunely, on April 17, 2019, The District Court for the District […]