Does Elon Musk Have Access To Your Patent Application?

By Heidi Sease Nebel

Under 37 CFR § 1.14 United States Patent applications are preserved in confidence until published, which, by statue is 18 months from the priority date.  All of our most sensitive data, new inventions and latest developments in artificial intelligence, engineering, healthcare and technology, safely housed within the USPTO without public access until access is granted […]

Increased Fees and Other Changes in USPTO Trademark Filings

By Christine Lebron-Dykeman

On November 18, 2024, the USPTO issued a final rule to increase certain trademark filing fees. The fees will take effect January 18, 2025.  While the per Class fee for filing a standard electronic trademark application has not changed and is still $350 per Class, the USPTO has eliminated the distinction between TEAS Standard and […]

Will non-competes be a thing of the past?

By Jill N. Link, Pharm.D.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is starting 2023 off with a bang by publishing a Notice of Proposed Rule-making (available here) that propose a Non-Compete Clause Rule. The topic is causing a buzz in the employment law sector. It should also be closely monitored through the intellectual property law sector.  Many – including myself […]

Obtaining Copyright Registrations for Blogs and Social Media Posts Just Got Easier

By

Online content creators including bloggers and social media influencers are now able to take advantage of a new group copyright registration option for short online works such as blog entries, social media posts, and other short online works. The Copyright Office recently adopted the rule implementing this new group registration to help ease the burden […]

USPTO to Provide a Deferred-Fee Provisional Patent Application Pilot Program

By Luke T. Mohrhauser

In yet another effort to encourage innovation to combat COVID-19, the United States Patent and Trademark Office recently announced a pilot program that attempts to expedite the protection and disclosure of innovations. The pilot program, titled “Deferred-Fee Provisional Patent Application Pilot Program and Collaboration Database to Encourage Inventions Related to COVID-19”, allows inventors to file […]

The Verdict is In – Implications on the Supreme Court Ruling Regarding Attorney’s Fees

By Blog Staff

The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled on December 11, 2019, that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) cannot demand repayment of attorney’s fees in district court proceedings brought under 35 U.S.C. § 145. For a summary of the arguments presented during oral arguments, see the author’s previous post here. The opinion written […]

Update from the AIPLA Biotech Committee Meeting

At the recent American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) conference the AIPLA Biotechnology Committee met to discuss two biotechnology issues: 35 USC 101 legislation and treatment of genetic resources (GR) and traditional knowledge (TK). Bob Stoll, former Commissioner for Patents at the USPTO and member of AIPLA’s 101 taskforce led the 101 discussion as part […]

40 Years on, Bayh-Dole is Stronger than Ever

The Bayh-Dole Act was passed in 1980 and is arguably one of the most successful pieces of bipartisan legislation ever passed. The first line of the Act says, “It is the policy and objective of the Congress to use the patent system to promote the utilization of inventions arising from federally supported research or development….” […]

Is Congress Finally Doing their Constitutional Duty?

On June 4, 5, and 11, 2019 the Senate Intellectual Property Sub-Committee held hearings regarding the new proposed changes to patent statutes, including to Sections 100, 101, and 112. The Sub-Committee will be hearing from a total of 45 witness on both sides of the debate. Most of the attention during the June 4th and […]

Judicial and Executive Branches split over Subject Matter, New Legislation may be Coming

Earlier this month the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) heard another appeal in the Cleveland Clinic v. True Health cases. In their appeal, one of Cleveland Clinic’s arguments that their claims were valid was because Skidmore deference should apply to the Examiner’s decision to allow the application to issue in light […]