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USPTO Disables First Office Action Estimator

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

The USPTO has disabled the widely beloved First Office Action Estimator. The First Office Action Estimator was available to the public. It allowed many of our clients to check the status of their application without needing to communicate with us. The USPTO’s stated reasons for the disabling of the Estimator follow. “In fiscal year 2021, […]

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Taco Tuesday is for Everyone!

By Julie L. Spieker

Taco John’s has surrendered its Taco Tuesday trademark. As we reported in May, Taco Bell filed a petition with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to cancel a trademark for Taco Tuesday that rival chain Taco John’s had held since 1989. Along with the petition, Taco Bell launched a nationwide public relations campaign for […]

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Public Service Announcement — USPTO Implements New Deadlines to Respond to Office Actions for Trademark Applications and Registrations

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

As of  Saturday, December 3, 2022, trademark applicants will have three months (with a possible three-month extension) to respond to an Office action issued during the examination of a trademark application at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) instead of the current six months. A similar timeline for responding is already employed by […]

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Major Overhaul to the USPTO’s Public Patent Searching Tools

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

On September 30, the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) new Patent Public Search tool (PPUBS) replaced four legacy tools—Public-Examiner’s Automated Search Tool (PubEAST), Public-Web-based Examiner’s Search Tool (PubWEST), Patent Full-Text and Image Database (PatFT), and Patent Application Full-Text and Image Database (AppFT). Patent Public Search provides more convenient, remote, and robust full-text searching of all […]

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New Path to Accelerated USPTO Examination with the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program

By Jill N. Link, Pharm.D.

A few weeks back my colleague posted here about how to receive faster examination before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Now there is another avenue available for inventions related to climate change. On June 3, 2022 the USPTO announced a Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program to speed up examination for certain types […]

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COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program Extended

By Brian D. Keppler, Ph.D.

The USPTO recently announced on March 25, 2022 that the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program has been extended for a third time. Requests for prioritized examination filed in qualifying patent applications will now be accepted until midnight on June 30, 2022. The pilot program began accepting requests on July 13, 2020 and was initially limited […]

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Two New ex Parte Trademark Cancellation Proceedings

By Julie L. Spieker

On December 18, 2021, new regulations implementing the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“the TMA”) will officially go into effect allowing individuals, businesses, and the USPTO to clear unused registered trademarks from the federal trademark register. New ex parte expungement and reexamination proceedings are said to provide a faster, more efficient, and less expensive alternative […]

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Proposed rulemaking to implement WIPO Standard ST.26

By Brian D. Keppler, Ph.D.

Patent applications containing nucleic acid or protein sequences will be required to submit a sequence listing in compliance with the new WIPO Standard ST.26 beginning on January 1, 2022. With the implementation of the new standard coming soon, the USPTO has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to revise the rules of practice for submitting […]

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What is Assignor Estoppel and What Implications Remain Post Minerva?

By Blog Staff

Particularly within the patent industry, it is common to see that an employment agreement contains a provision where an employee agrees to assign the rights in any future inventions developed during the course of employment to the employer. Provided the prevalence of assignments filed in patent applications, inventors and patent owners should be aware as […]

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Federal Circuit Judge Evan Wallach Taking Senior Status

By Gregory Lars Gunnerson

Seat 9 of the Federal Circuit is being vacated by Judge Evan Wallach, who was appointed by President Barack Obama and will take senior status. President Joe Biden will thus be tasked with nominating the seat’s next holder. The seat will be officially vacated on May 31, 2021. The last seat to open up on […]

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