July 20, 2009

On July 6, the Federal Circuit granted rehearing en banc in Tafas v. Doll regarding the USPTO’s power to implement new rules on restrictions for continuations and claim limitations.  No comment concerning the underlying opinion was given beyond announcing its…

July 12, 2009

The Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library now provides five dedicated PubWEST patent searching terminals at its downtown Central Library location, thanks to a donation to the Library Foundation by Woodard, Emhardt, Moriarty, McNett & Henry LLP.  The five dedicated PubWEST computer…

July 10, 2009

Although it is still several months away, the EPO will dramatically changes its practice effective April 1, 2010 relating to divisional applications and European search reports.  A review of the changes is presented below: Limitation on Filing Divisional Applications In…

June 29, 2009

The U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari in the Bilski case, a challenge to the decision handed down by the Federal Circuit last October excluding pure business methods from patent protection. Additionally, the Bilski decision set some roadblocks in the…

June 16, 2009

While the recently enacted Madrid Protocol System allows trademark owners to seek protection for their respective marks in multiple countries by filing a single application, there are some pitfalls to avoid. For large-scale coverage of your trademark in many countries,…

June 8, 2009

Applicants of international PCT patent applications filed on or after January 1, 2009, can now view the file contents of their published applications online. Over the next couple of months, the service will begin including applications for which early publication…

June 1, 2009

The Federal Circuit recently reversed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision affirming an Examining Attorney’s refusal to register the mark MOSCOVSKAYA as primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive. In Russian, MOSCOVSKAYA means “from Moscow.” The Examining Attorney relied on the…

May 26, 2009

In a recent Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) decision, the Applicant attempted to register the mark CYNERGY and in response received a section 2(d) likelihood of confusion refusal in light of a prior registration for SYNERGIE PEEL. In responding…

May 18, 2009

Germany has now agreed to participate in the Patent Prosecution Highway Program (PPH). Under the PPH, an applicant receiving a favorable ruling from one nation may request that the corresponding application filed with the other nation advance out of turn…

May 18, 2009

There are some lesser known alternatives for protecting and enforcing patents in China that can save patent owners both time and money. For example, a utility model patent application can be a quicker and less expensive alternative for obtaining patent…

May 11, 2009

The Applicant in this case filed an application for “19-0 THE PERFECT SEASON” on November 8, 2007, seeking registration on the Supplemental Register, and amended the application on April 22, 2008 to seek registration on the Principal Register. In the…

May 4, 2009

The Hague System allows companies to seek international protection for industrial designs inexpensively. For example, an Applicant could save in excess of $5,800 for a design patent application filed in the European Community, Switzerland, and Turkey. However, there are a…