Pura Vida for the European Patent Office On December 13, 2024, the European Patent Office President António Campinos welcomed a delegation from Costa Rica, led by the Minister of Justice and Peace Gerald Campos Valverde, for the signing of a landmark validation agreement. Costa Rica is the seventh country to sign a validation agreement with the EPO, following Morocco, Moldova, Tunisia, Cambodia, […] Read Post →
Diplomatic Conference to Conclude and Adopt a Design Law Treaty The USPTO has concluded seeking comments from the public on negotiations at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) regarding a proposed Design Law Treaty (DLT). A diplomatic conference to finalize the treaty will soon be conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, November 11-22, 2024. The comments were intended to inform U.S. government participation in the diplomatic […] Read Post →
The Long-Standing Rosen-Durling Test used to Assess Nonobviousness of Design Patents is OVERRULED The long-standing Rosen-Durling test used to assess nonobviousness of design patents required a primary reference must be “basically the same” as the challenged design claim, and further that any secondary references must be “so related”. The Federal Circuit had never considered the merits of the Rosen-Durling test. Hearing LKQ Corp. v. GM Glob. Tech. Operations […] Read Post →
Improvements in the Brazilian Design Patent Practice Our esteemed colleagues at Daniel IP report to us that there are exciting new rules that have come into effect for designs in Brazil. They authored the following summary of the new laws. We believe this summary will be extremely useful to many U.S. Applicants considering protection in Brazil in the design space. We highly […] Read Post →
USPTO Disables First Office Action Estimator 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, […] Read Post →
Debut of New Patent Petitions Webpage A petition is a request for the USPTO to take certain action in your patent or patent application. They are aimed to allow the Applicant a mechanism to request third party review of almost all procedural matters before the USPTO that are not the subject of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). The Office of Petitions (OPET) […] Read Post →
Integrated Circuit Layout Design Protection Series: Part 3 Title 17 of the U.S. Code concerns copyright laws. Chapter 9 of Title 17 is entirely dedicated to the protection of Mask Works. 17 U.S.C. § 901 defines a mask work as “a series of related images, however fixed or encoded, having or representing the predetermined, three-dimensional pattern of metallic, insulating, or semiconductor material present […] Read Post →
Integrated Circuit Layout Design Protection Series: Part 2 A diplomatic conference was held in 1989 in Washington, D.C. The diplomats in attendance were representatives of member states of the United Nations (UN) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or representatives of intergovernmental organizations meeting certain criteria. The diplomats were there to consider whether their Member nations were interested in offering additional protections for integrated […] Read Post →
Integrated Circuit Layout Design Protection Series: Part 1 Did you know that layout designs (topographies) of integrated circuits are a separate field in the protection of Intellectual Property (“IP”)? Most Americans understand IP to be classified within one of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, yet this is not always how all countries choose to classify all IP rights. Another form of protection […] Read Post →
National Science Foundation Announces $60 Million Investment in Developing and Strengthening Academic Institutional Infrastructure for Providing Industry-Driven Solutions The National Science Foundation’s new Accelerating Research Translation (ART) program is a game-changer for universities in the United States. The $60 million program will provide up to $6 million per award over four years to academic institutions to build capacity and infrastructure needed to strengthen and scale the translation of basic research outcomes into impactful […] Read Post →
U.S. Copyright, Patent and Trademark Offices to Conduct Publicly Available Roundtable Discussions Regarding NFTs in January 2023 NFTs represent unique and individualized digital identifiers that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided, unlike cryptocurrencies. Both technologies are built and reside on blockchain technology. Both NFTs and cryptocurrencies have a complicated relationship with the patent, trademark, and copyright systems. For example, U.S. copyright laws do not automatically give an NFT owner any rights in […] Read Post →
Public Service Announcement — USPTO Implements New Deadlines to Respond to Office Actions for Trademark Applications and Registrations 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 […] Read Post →
Major Overhaul to the USPTO’s Public Patent Searching Tools 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 […] Read Post →
Manipulating the Time it Takes to Get a Patent, Legally! A common question I am commonly asked is: How long will it take for me to get a patent? The answer is it depends. There are a few factors. Some art units are faster to examine patent applications than others. Some Examiners issue more communications, known as Office actions, than others. If an Examiner mails […] Read Post →
Expanded Collaborative Search Pilot Program – New Combined Petition Option For Participation Yesterday, March 29, 2022, the USPTO published a notice on the Federal Register, announcing it is making it easier to participate in the Expanded Collaborative Search Pilot (CSP) program. Specifically, the USPTO collaborated with its counterpart offices, the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the Korea Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), to develop a combined petition form […] Read Post →
Policing Copyrights: Dua Lipa Sued for Allegedly Plagiarizing “Levitating” We often get asked: Just how exactly does one prevail at trial in a copyright litigation? To what degree of likeness do songs have to have in order to be considered a copy? Forensic musicology is the means by which parties can offer evidence in copyright disputes. Forensic musicologists analyze melody, harmony, rhythm, and orchestration […] Read Post →
Gaming Company Patents Digging Holes and Filling Holes with Water They say in patents the name of the game is the claims. So, can you guess which game this claim likely belongs to? A game controlling method comprising: based on input to a controller, digging in a terrain object disposed in a virtual space, placing an object representing a flowable fluid in a dug portion […] Read Post →
Your Friendly Reminder to Avoid the Temptation to Use USOPC Trademarks The race for the most gold medals during the 2020 Summer Olympics (informally “Tokyo 2020” and more formally “the Games of the XXXII Olympiad”) has now come to a close, and what a spectacle it was! Individuals, news outlets, and official Olympic sponsors are generally free to post and tweet about the games and athletes […] Read Post →
Aevum UAV’s Ravn X to Deliver Cargo AND Launch Rockets The Ravn X (Aevum) unmanned aircraft will be used to both deliver cargo and launch rockets, pending approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. For its intellectual efforts in this space, the company was awarded U.S. Patent No. 10,994,842. The heart of the invention concerns a payload delivery system for an aircraft. Aevum is the first […] Read Post →
Pegasus Universal Aerospace’s Patents Vertical Business Jet Pegasus Universal Aerospace (Pegasus UA) has recently acquired a U.S. patent for a newly developed vertical takeoff and landing business jet. The patent, U.S. Patent No. 10,710,713, names Dr. Mohamed Reza Mia as its sole inventor. Dr. Reza Mia also serves as Pegasus UA’s founder and chairman. The Johannesburg-based South Africa company seemingly hopes to […] Read Post →
Federal Circuit Judge Evan Wallach Taking Senior Status 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 […] Read Post →
Utility Models in China A utility model is a patent-like intellectual property right to protect inventions. American, Canadian, and British inventors and companies are often unaware that such rights exist, given that their laws do not allow for registration of these rights. Utility models are generally cheaper to obtain and maintain, have a shorter term (generally 6 to 15 […] Read Post →
Patent Analytics Provider Tracks “Examiners Who Procrastinate” Patent Analytics Provider Juristat blogged on May 28, 2020 that Juristat is capable of tracking procrastination habits of examiners at the USPTO. To better understand how examiners procrastinate and why some would choose to or choose to avoid doing so requires some background knowledge of how examiners are internally evaluated by the USPTO. Examiner performance is evaluated […] Read Post →
Patents Concerning Coronavirus Treatments 28 U.S.C 1498 allows the government to use or authorize others to use any invention “described in and covered by a patent of the United States.” If such authorization is granted, patent owners can sue the United States, but only for reasonable compensation. Patent owners are not able to seek injunctions against private entities working […] Read Post →
Trademarks Filed for OK, Boomer There are now at least nine pending trademark applications incorporating “OK Boomer.” The applicants notably include Fox Media, who wishes to use the mark for a television series. It appears the applicants are unlikely to receive rights in the mark because the memed-to-death slogan conveys ordinary or familiar concepts or sentiments, as well as social, […] Read Post →
T-Mobile Asserts Charitable Startup Lemonade Infringes Magenta Mark National Public Radio (NPR) reports T-Mobile has sent a cease and desist letter to startup Lemonade. For those unfamiliar with Lemonade, Lemonade is a public benefit corporation quickly growing in popularity, particularly with millennials, because the company donates all unclaimed money to charities of the policyholder’s choice. T-Mobile asserts Lemonade’s use of a color allegedly similar […] Read Post →
Trademarks: Property Plus Insurance Intellectual property is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. It is widely accepted patents, copyrights, and trademarks confer an exclusive right. Unlike patents and copyrights, the constitutional foundation for trademark law is the Commerce Clause, U.S. Const., Art. I, § 8, cl. 3, rather than the Intellectual Property Clause, […] Read Post →
A Trademark Is Insurance, Not Property It is widely accepted patents and copyrights confer a Constitutional exclusive right. See the Intellectual Property Clause, U.S. Const., Art. I. § 8, cl. 8. Unlike patents and copyrights, the constitutional foundation for trademarks is the Commerce Clause, U.S. Const., Art. I, § 8, cl. 3. Thus, the trademark right may conceivably be a property right, while patents and […] Read Post →
NASA’s Technology Transfer Process From July 28 – July 31, 2019, I had the pleasure of attending the Association of Technology Managers (AUTM) 2019 Central Region Meeting. AUTM is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing research to life by supporting and enhancing the global, academic technology transfer profession through education, professional development, partnering and advocacy. AUTM’s attendance has been […] Read Post →
Comparing United States and European Patent Law for Software Software Eligibility in Europe Programs for computers are partially, albeit explicitly, excluded from patentability under Article 52(2) of the European Patent Convention (EPC). Article 52(3) EPC elaborates, “The provisions of paragraph 2 shall exclude patentability of the subject-matter or activities referred to in that provision only to the extent to which a European patent application […] Read Post →
Petitioning the Director: Why? When? Typically, patent attorneys are privileged to work side by side with examiners who embrace the collaborative relationship that exists between patent applicants and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). It is typical for examiners and patent attorneys to initially disagree on legal and/or technical issues which relate to the claims of a patent […] Read Post →
Linn-Mar Student Wins 2019 MVS Agriculture Award at Invent Iowa Competition On April 15, 2019, I had the pleasure of attending the Invent Iowa 2019 Competition. Invent Iowa is hosted annually by the Belin-Blank Center of the University of Iowa’s College of Education. Invent Iowa is a competition which allows students K-8 to pitch a three-minute presentation about their inventions to volunteer judges and other students, […] Read Post →
Additional Update on the Government Shutdown As you are most likely aware, the United States government was shutdown for a total of 35 days, the longest shutdown in US history. The shutdown led to 380,000 federal workers being furloughed, and an additional 420,000 workers were required to work without any known payment dates during this period, forcing many to find other […] Read Post →
Update on the Government Shutdown In December 2018, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) reported it would stay open at least for a temporary time in the event of a government shutdown. Thus far, the USPTO closed only on December 24, 2018 (Christmas Eve), as a result of an executive order issued by President Trump. Christmas Eve fell […] Read Post →
Autel Robotics Co. Escalates Dispute with Largest Manufacturer of Hobbyist and Commercial Drones, SZ DJI Technology Co. (of China) SZ DJI Technology Co. could lose access to the U.S. market in a patent-infringement lawsuit with Autel Robotics Co. where Autel asserts SZ DJI infringes U.S. Patent Nos.7,979,174 and 9,260,184, which cover rotor attachment and speed changes, and SZ DJI asserts Autel infringes at least U.S. Patent Nos.9,016,617; 9,284,049; 9,321,530; D691,514;9,284,040 and 9,592,744, which cover […] Read Post →
Leftover Pizza? Domino’s Reheats Pizza Hut’s Invalidity Claim Against Ameranth Inc. Ameranth Inc. asserts it is a leading provider of wireless and Internet based solutions for the hospitality/gaming markets and that it has a very strong intellectual property portfolio including numerous strategic patents in technologies such as Wireless POS, Table Management, Reservations Management, Mobile Concierge, Electronic Menus, Guest Surveys, Inventory Management, Health Care Services and Enrollment […] Read Post →
AIAA Presents 2017 Daniel Guggenheim Medal to Inventor Paul M. Bevilaqua The AIAA chose to honor Paul M. Bevilaqua by presenting him with the 2017 Daniel Guggenheim Medal. The Daniel Guggenheim Medal was established in 1929 for the purpose of honoring persons who make notable achievements in the advancement of aeronautics. The Medal is jointly sponsored by AIAA, ASME, SAE, and AHS. The medal is considered […] Read Post →
No Sympathy for Samsung In May, an eight-member California federal jury awarded Apple a staggering $500+ million verdict as a result of a patent litigation lawsuit that has been ongoing for at least 7 years. The verdict has proved to be particularly puzzling for patent law professors and other patent advocates that disagree over whether an article of manufacture in relation […] Read Post →
Design Patents: An Analogy A recent Webinar moderated by Gene Quinn of IPWatchdog.com titled, “Strategic Use of Design Patents”, analogized a design patent to a tool in a tool box. This analogy is intriguing. For example, a utility patent could be considered a hammer, as it is useful in a wide array of applications and delivers a devastating impact […] Read Post →
Japan Invests in Astronautical Start-ups Michael Sheetz of CNBC reports “Japan is offering $940 million to fund space start-ups in a new push to grow the industry, the government announced Tuesday at an event in Tokyo” and that “funds will be made available through investments and loans over the next five years, as part of a government-led initiative to double […] Read Post →
Amazon Develops Drones that React to Human Gestures The technology of U.S. Patent No. 9,921,579, which issued on March 20, 2018, may help Amazon grapple with how flying robots might interact with human bystanders and customers waiting on their doorsteps. Apple engineer Frederik Schaffalitzky (formerly an engineer for Amazon) is the sole inventor responsible for these recent technological innovations. While, the parent patent […] Read Post →
Inventor of Long-Range Air Communications with Conformal Antennas Inducted into Hall of Fame Howard S. Jones, Jr. has been posthumously honored as a 2018 inductee into the National Inventors Hall of Fame for his innovative work in developing conformal antennas. This invention has been crucial for the development of enhanced capabilities for spacecraft, rockets and other aeronautical technologies. March 1, 2018 marked the 41st anniversary of the issuance of U.S. […] Read Post →
Space Systems Loral to Proceed with Trade Secret Theft Lawsuit Against Orbital ATK Daniel Wilson of Law360.com reports on Friday, February 2nd, U.S. District Judge Raymound A. Jackson “trimmed two claims from space technology company SSL’s suit accusing rival Orbital ATK of stealing its trade secrets through a shared NASA server, but refused to toss the suit, saying SSL had adequately pled the majority of its allegations.” SSL […] Read Post →
AIAA Honors Inventor Dr. Jay Gundlach On January 16, 2018, Lawrence Garrett reported The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) chose to honor Senior Member Dr. Jay Gundlach in the AIAA Momentum Member Spotlight for January 2018. With respect to Dr. Gundlach’s intellectual property endeavors, Lawrence notes: For the past two decades, Dr. Jay Gundlach has been a pioneering force behind […] Read Post →