August 20, 2010

After assessing the Trademark Consistency Initiative Pilot Program, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided to extend and expand the program.  The USPTO is expanding the parameters of the program so that a Request for Consistency Review…

August 16, 2010

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) was successful in its lobbying efforts to get an important funding bill (H.R. 5874) passed by Congress and signed by the President.    The legislation allows the USPTO to increase its spending authority…

July 12, 2010

How often have you noticed that a product bears a label of “patent pending” or “U.S. Patent No.”?  But, what if that patent does not cover the product?  Or maybe there is no “patent pending”?  Well, anyone could have a…

June 30, 2010

The Ninth Circuit issued an ironic ruling last month regarding levying domain names to satisfy a prior judgment. In Office Depot, Inc. v. Zuccarini (9th Cir., Feb. 2010), the Ninth Circuit ruled that a creditor can levy a domain name…

June 30, 2010

In case you don’t have enough videos to watch, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) launched a portion of its new Trademark Information Network where anyone can view news broadcast-style videos on its website that cover important topics…

June 30, 2010

A pilot program of the Trilateral Patent Cooperation Treaty (“PCT”)-Patent Prosecution Highway began January 29, 2010, and is planned to run for two years. The program fast-tracks patent examinations in the European Patent Office (“EPO”), the Japan Patent Office (“JPO”)…

June 23, 2010

For all those who have been confused and/or down right frustrated by a restriction requirement or two … (Haven’t we all?) … the United States Patent and Trademark Office will be accepting written public comments on restriction practice until August…

June 17, 2010

When discussing the fundamentals of patent law with potential clients, we are often asked whether it is necessary, and whether it is a good idea, to conduct a patentability search.  The bottom line is that there is no requirement to…

June 10, 2010

Occasionally, a patent practitioner will become aware of a prior art reference after the issue fee has been paid, and the question becomes—will the examiner consider the reference at this late stage? The short answer is “yes”.  But as you…

May 19, 2010

On November 6, 2009, the USPTO announced the initiation of a program called “Project Exchange.”  This program was initially limited to applicants claiming small entity status; however, the USPTO has more recently announced that this program will be available to…