Computer-Generated Design Guidance Background Back in 2020, the USPTO asked for public input on “whether its interpretation of the article of manufacture requirement in the United States Code should be…
USPTO Examiner Agrees to $500,000 Conflict-of-Interest Settlement A major USPTO examiner conflict settlement is drawing attention to ethics oversight inside the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Patent examiner Daxin Wu…
On Friday the 13th, the Federal Circuit turned what began as a procedural APA challenge into something much larger: a precedential confirmation that the USPTO Director possesses extraordinarily broad discretion…
The USPTO recently updated its Design Search Code Manual to include codes for sound and motion marks. These updates make it easier for applicants to search for existing marks that…
Recent USPTO data shows a sharp gap in patent allowance rates by entity size. Large entities saw about an 80% allowance rate, small entities around 61%, and micro-entities just 40%.…
For a long time, inter partes review felt like gravity. If you owned a patent and someone filed an IPR, it was less a question of whether you’d be dragged…
For years, Section 101 rejections have been the biggest obstacle for software and computer-implemented inventions. Recently, however, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has been reversing those rejections at…
Picture source: https://patentlyo.com/patent/2025/12/surprising-headline-stability.htmlThe USPTO’s 2025 patent data points to an unusual but welcome theme: stability. Utility patent issuances held essentially flat at about 326,000—nearly identical to 2024—continuing a plateau that…
USPTO Director Squires Imposes 0% Institution Rate Since October 2025, USPTO Director John Squires has personally taken control of IPR institution decisions — and the results are stark: every petition…
AI Pre-Examination Search Test Program The USPTO just kicked off a new pilot program: the Automated Pre-Examination Search, or ASRN*. The idea is simple—before a human examiner ever looks at…
Proposed USPTO IPR Rules Could Strengthen Patent Protection The USPTO is considering rules that could fundamentally change how inter partes review (IPR) works. If finalized, these changes would make it…
The USPTO has suspended expedited design applications to combat fraud. The PTO had suspended expedited examinations of design applications back on April 17, 2025. Now it has decided to eliminate…
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) just rolled out a new “late-filing penalty” for continuation applications that come in six or nine years after the earliest priority date in…
Background: USPTO Issues New AI Eligibility Memo The USPTO issued a memorandum on Aug 2, 2025. This was to help examiners assess subject matter eligibility in software-related inventions, especially those…
The USPTO has a new trick up its sleeve. If you own older patents, you may actually like it. It’s called the “settled expectations” doctrine. Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart…
The USPTO issued an update on August 6, 2025. In this announcement, it terminated over 52,000 trademark applications and registrations linked to a foreign filing firm. Additionally, the PTO issued…
Shockwave Raised Hopes for Using AAPA in IPRs If you thought Shockwave Medical would let you slip Applicant-Admitted Prior Art (AAPA) into an inter partes review (IPR) to patch holes…
The USPTO offers significant fee discounts for small and micro entities. In particular, small entities include individuals, businesses with up to 500 employees, or non-profits.Meanwhile, micro entities meet small entity…
Given the long wait times for patent prosecution, the USPTO had offered several ways to speed the process up*. One of those, Accelerated Examination, offered the option of having the…
The USPTO recently announced it had now removed over 50,000 goods and services from the trademark register. Using ex parte expungement and reexamination proceedings, the majority of the cancellations were…
The rule book and the black box The Use of the Inter Partes Review in Infringement Accusations You’re facing an infringement suit. A common defensive tactic is to challenge the…
The USPTO has changed how fees for Information Disclosure Statements (IDS) work, this change was implemented 2025-01-19.A brief overview of the changes are as follows:There are now fees for when…
The Old Prior Art Wisdom: When in Doubt, Cite It. “When in doubt, cite it” is the wisdom handed down regarding prior art on the edges of relevance. After all,…
Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/07/17/2024-15377/2024-guidance-update-on-patent-subject-matter-eligibility-including-on-artificial-intelligenceThe US Patent Office continues to issue guidance on subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101. This latest July guidance addresses AI-assisted inventions, and adds very little to…
Rising Questions About AI-Assisted Inventorship in U.S. Patent Law Questions about who, or what, can claim inventorship on AI-assisted inventions have been tested in the last few years. The United…
Proposed Changes to USPTO IPR Rules The USPTO is considering modifications to the rules for inter partes review (IPR) and post grant review (PGR) proceedings. Ostensibly this is to “better align……
The USPTO is implementing a pilot program called the Deferred Subject Matter Eligibility response.The point of the program is to defer the whole question of subject matter eligibility until a…
Over the last 5 years (FY 2017-2021) about 61 percent of the cases at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) concern patents. There are three sources for…
An Inter Partes Review is a proceeding before the USPTO, which allows third parties to challenge the validity of the claims of an issued patent without going into federal court.…
Supreme Court Decision on PTAB Appointments In U.S. v. Arthrex, the Supreme Court found that PTAB (Patent Trial and Appeals Board) should have been nominated by the President and confirmed…