Blog
ICANN Approves New Generic Top-Level Domain Names
July 8, 2011
ICANN’s Board of Directors has approved a plan to allow an increase in the number of internet address endings, otherwise known as generic top-level domain names (gTLDs), from the current 22. Internet address names will be able to end with…
Read MoreUS House of Representatives Passes the America Invents Act
June 24, 2011
On June 23, 2011, the House of Representatives passed HR 1249, commonly known as the America Invents Act, which was mentioned in a previous post here (112th Congress Becomes the Fourth To Attempt to Tackle Patent Reform). Of note, the…
Read MoreU.S. Supreme Court Issues Decision in Microsoft v. i4i Case
June 20, 2011
The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down a decision in the much-anticipated Microsoft v. i4i case. In its decision, the Supreme Court affirmed that invalidity of a patent must be proved by clear and convincing evidence. To read the full…
Read MoreA Tougher Standard for Proving Inequitable Conduct?
June 8, 2011
In a 6–1–4 decision, an en banc Federal Circuit in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson and Company tries to cure the “plague” of inequitable conduct pleadings by raising the bar for proving that alleged bad acts were material to patentability…
Read MoreWoodard, Emhardt Makes Donation to Improve Patent Searching Terminals at Purdue University
June 2, 2011
Woodard, Emhardt recently made a donation to enhance the PubWEST patent searching terminals at the Siegesmund Engineering library at Purdue University. The PubWEST system is only available to the public at designated Patent and Trademark Depository Libraries (PTDLs) and is…
Read MoreUpdate to New Rule for Prioritized Examination
April 22, 2011
We previously reported a new rule issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) regarding prioritized examination. A copy of this blog posting can be found here. Briefly, this new rule allows an applicant to have a patent…
Read MoreFederal Circuit Hears Oral Arguments in the Myriad Gene Patent Case
April 22, 2011
On April 4, 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit heard oral arguments in Association for Molecular Pathology, et al. v. USPTO, Myriad Genetics, et al. This case involves the controversial topic of whether human genes qualify…
Read MoreUSPTO Issues Final Rule to Implement Prioritized Examination
April 14, 2011
On April 4, 2011, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a final rule regarding prioritized examination (Track I). The purpose of the rule is to provide a final disposition within twelve months of prioritized status being granted. …
Read More112th Congress Becomes the Fourth To Attempt to Tackle Patent Reform
March 1, 2011
The 112th Congress, under the direction of Senator Patrick Leahy (D – Vt), is preparing to again consider a significant reformation of the U.S. patent system. Numerous attempts have been made to reform the patent system since 2005, with most…
Read MoreThe Patent Office Issues New Examination Guidelines to Evaluate Whether Inventions are Distinctly Claimed
February 21, 2011
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently issued supplementary patent examination guidelines further defining the USPTO’s interpretation of the second paragraph of 35 U.S.C. §112 that requires inventors to distinctly claim their inventions. These guidelines are supplements to…
Read MoreA Proposed New Rule for Fee-Based Fast-Track Examination
February 11, 2011
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a proposed rule to implement “Track I” of the 3 track examination program proposed last year. Track I applications would be accorded special status and placed on a special Examiner…
Read MorePatent and Trademark Office Introduces a Web Site for Receiving Public Feedback on Patent and Trademark Examination Procedures
January 20, 2011
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has instituted two on-line discussion tools that allow the public to provide input on ways to improve the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) and Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP). Only a…
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