September 16, 2010

Below is a presentation that discusses how the take down provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) have been expanded to not only cover copyrights but other forms of intellectual property, such as trademarks, rights of publicity, patents, etc.…

April 28, 2010

In case you don’t have enough to watch on TV, the USPTO launched a portion of its new Trademark Information Network where anyone can view news broadcast-style videos that cover important topics and can teach you about the various phases…

April 21, 2010

The USPTO recently announced its new Ombudsman Pilot Program. The Ombudsman Pilot Program is designed to enhance the experience applicants and their representatives have in dealing with issues that arise during patent application prosecution.  To do so, the USPTO is…

April 14, 2010

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is considering making a change to pendency of provisional patent applications.  The change, if adopted, would somewhat extend the existing 12‑month provisional application period to 24-months.  This change would be implemented through…

April 7, 2010

Prior unsuccessful attempts to reform the U.S. patent system and rein in massive damages awards have sought to limit damages to the actual economic impact attributable to the claimed invention.  In its most recent bill, the U.S. Senate has shifted…

December 9, 2009

The USPTO is introducing a new pilot program which will accelerate the examination of certain “green” technology patent applications.  Under normal circumstances, patent applications are examined in the order that they are filed.  Currently, the average pendency time for applications…

December 1, 2009

New USPTO Director David Kappos is reaching out and attempting to engage the public on the topic of patent law and other issues that matter to both inventors and the patent bar alike.  Mr. Kappos began the blog earlier this…

November 10, 2009

Monday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the highly anticipated Bilski v. Kappos case.  The Court’s decision in this case, which is expected by the spring of 2010, will shape what types of technology is and is not…

November 4, 2009

ICANN (the body responsible for regulating domain names) is planning to expand the domain name system to better reach an international audience.  Domain names consisting of non-latin characters are currently set to be launched on November 16, 2009.  These characters…

October 27, 2009

On September 24, 2009, Thailand (TH) became the 142nd Contracting State of the PCT.  Thailand will become bound by the PCT on December 24, 2009, and all PCT applications filed on or after December 24 will automatically designate Thailand.

October 21, 2009

A new patent search tool offered by WIPO is available here.  The tool includes about 1.6 million PCT applications as well as the patent collections of ARIPO, Cuba, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa and Vietnam.  Additional collections will be added in…

October 9, 2009

The USPTO announced today that it will officially rescind its controversial claiming and continuations rules package next week.  The restrictive rules package sought to impose extensive limits on the way applicants could claim their inventions and on the number of…