Constitutionality of Inter Partes Reviews: A Look at Supreme Court Oral Arguments in Oil States The enactment of the AIA in 2011, inter partes review (IPR), has been available as a method to challenge the validity of a patent in the US Patent and Trademark Office. A total of 6139 IPR petitions (92% of all petitions) have been filed with the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) since that time. […] Continue Reading →
Hashflags “It’s all a Twitter” If you spend a lot of time on Twitter… and these days it seems like everyone does, you have probably noticed an increase in the use of customized emojis/images—known as hashflags. The hashflag is automatically inserted by Twitter whenever a certain hashtag (#) is used, i.e., #ShareaCoke. Twitter first launched hashflags […] Continue Reading →
Cancellation of a registered trademark for non-use soon could be easier According to Chief Administrative Trademark Judge Gerard F. Rogers in his blog post on the Director’ Forum last week, PTO found out through a pilot program that “more than half of registrations being maintained include at least some goods or services for which the registered mark is not actually being used.” “These registered trademarks that […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Releases Patent Fee Schedule for 2018 This past week, the USPTO released its final patent fee schedule for 2018. The USPTO has been actively seeking to reduce the overall patent pendency, number of unexamined applications, and reduce its appeal backlog. Part of these efforts have been the continual recruiting and training of new examiners and new Administrative Law Judges at the […] Continue Reading →
Outside an infringement claim: the use of sovereign immunity and an attempt to limit its’ use The sovereign – that is the government or government owned entities – are immune from lawsuit by the Eleventh Amendment. Thus, the United States government, state government, or a state-owned university are protected from legal action, including a lawsuit for patent infringement. Universities that are state owned thus can proceed with their research without concern […] Continue Reading →
REMINDER: Deadline to Re-Register Your DMCA Agent is December 31, 2017 As previously discussed on this blog (Copyright Office Establishes New Electronic DMCA Agent Registration), the U.S. Copyright Office has recently enacted changes to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) safe harbor registration process. As part of the new system, the Copyright Office is requiring any service provider that designated an agent in the old paper-based […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit claims “Control Means” deciding factor in Summary Judgement On Thursday, October 19, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided Lufthansa Technik Ag v. Astronics Advanced Electronic Systems Corp., an appeal which arose from a patent infringement suit brought in the Western District of Washington. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of defendant—Astronics Corp., finding all claims of U.S. Patent […] Continue Reading →
Patenting Abstract Ideas: Technology, Turnstiles, and Transformation On October 18, the Federal Circuit again examined the existing bounds of the patentability of abstract ideas. InSmart Systems Innovations (SSI) v. Chicago Transit Authority, the Federal Circuit determined that SSI’s four patents claimed an abstract idea and were invalid. SSI’s patents were directed to a fare collection system for mass transit (e.g. bus, train, […] Continue Reading →
To Defer or Not to Defer? Uncertainty Ahead for USPTO Rules In an en banc decision on October 4, 2017, the Federal Circuit made it easier to amend patents during AIA proceedings. However, in reaching this decision, the Federal Circuit raised questions as to whether Chevron deference would apply to the USPTO’s rules made without following a formal rule-making process. During an inter partes review proceeding, […] Continue Reading →
Levi’s Sues Over Pocket “Tab” Can you use of a piece of fabric no bigger than a fingernail to constitute a trademark infringement? Levi’s appears to think so. Late last month, Levi Strauss & Co. filed a federal lawsuit in San Francisco against Vineyard Vines, LLC alleging the clothing company has been infringing Levi’s trademark rights by sewing a small […] Continue Reading →