Shifting Pre-Trial Strategy in the Wake of Alice and Ultramercial Four recent Supreme Court cases involving patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101 (Bilski v. Kappos, Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., Ass'n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., and Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank International ) have had the practical effect of heightening the standard for patentability. However, these cases may […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Publishes its 2014 Patent Public Advisory Committee Annual Report The Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) for the USPTO published its Annual Report for the 2014 fiscal year. The annual report is directed to the President of the United States and addresses many issues faced in the previous fiscal year, summaries of goals met, and recommendations for the future. The 2014 report expressed concerns over the […] Continue Reading →
Oral Arguments Held in Appeal of First IPR By Jonathan Kennedy On November 3, 2014, a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in In re Cuozzo—the appeal from the first inter partes review ("IPR") instituted by the USPTO. As noted in our previouspost, the appeal presents a number of interesting procedural and substantive issues. While the oral argument did not […] Continue Reading →
Ways to Accelerate Patent Examination Before the USPTO Part 4, Final By Jill Link As discussed in a series ofpriorpostings, there are various options to expedite examination and/or decrease the pendency and delays associated with patent examination before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). These include: (1) the First Action Interview Pilot Program (see Part 1); (2) Track One Prioritized Examination (see Part 2); (3) […] Continue Reading →
Ways to Accelerate Patent Examination Before the USPTO Part 3 By Jill Link As discussed in at wopostingslastweek, there are a few options to patent applicants to combat the long pendency, slow processing and delays in examination before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The First Action Interview (FAI) Pilot Program and Track One Prioritized Examination were discussed as options to expedite the pace […] Continue Reading →
MVS Filewrapper – Blog:Ways to Accelerate Patent Examination Before the USPTO – Part 2 As discussed in a first posting earlier this week, there are a few options to patent applicants to combat the long pendency, slow processing and delays in examination before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The First Action Interview (FAI) Pilot Program was discussed as one option to expedite the pace of patent […] Continue Reading →
STEM Education Linked to Increased Innovation, Patenting An interesting new discussion paper from John V. Winters at Oklahoma State University highlights the connection between foreign and native college graduates with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees and per capita patenting. The data appear to disclose that the amount of STEM degrees per metropolitan area significantly increases the amount of patents issued […] Continue Reading →
Ways to Accelerate Patent Examination Before the USPTO Long pendency, slow processing and delays in examination due to patent backlog before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) are common concerns voiced by patent applicants. Although it may provide some comfort to know that backlogs are decreasing and overall examination timeframes are improving, many patent applicants remain frustrated while waiting in line […] Continue Reading →
Is the Supreme Court Re-Aiming Markman? The 1996 United States Supreme Court decision in Markman v. Westview Instruments established a landmark change for claim construction in patent infringement cases. That case established that the meaning of the claim language of a patent is a matter of law for a judge to decide, and not a matter of fact that should be […] Continue Reading →
USPTO Issues Report on Virtual Patent Marking Under the AIA Among the provisions of the America Invents Act that went into effect on September 16, 2011 was a change to the patent marking provisions contained in 35 U.S.C. § 287(a). Marking an article as with a patent number provides constructive notice to the public that the article is patented, and failure to appropriately mark an […] Continue Reading →