On February 2, 2022, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed in In re Vox Populi Registry Ltd.,[1] the decision of the USPTO’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) refusing registration to .SUCKS as a service mark for Vox’s domain name registry services. However, the Fed Circuit agreed with the TTAB in that …
Author: Yonaxis
New Public Page for Trademark Non-Use Petitions
On February 4, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office released a new public page showing new ex parte expungement or reexamination petitions for failure to use the challenged mark in commerce. Since its implementation on December 21, 2021, there have been 20 petitions for expungement and 10 petitions for reexamination filed on non-used …
Senator Requests Study on Uniting Federal IP Offices Into Single Office
U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) has requested the Administrative Conference of the United States, the federal agency tasked with making federal functions more efficient, to conduct a study into the feasibility of having a unified, singular federal office devoted to intellectual property, combining the registration and prosecution functions currently handled by both the United States …
USPTO Issues Sanctions Against Trademark Filing Entities (TFEs) for Fraudulent Filings
On January 25, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued sanctions against a group of trademark filing entities (“TFEs”): Abtach, Ltd., 360 Digital Marketing LLC, and Retrocube LLC, including the officers – Azneem Bilwani, CEO, Salman Yousuf, COO, Muhammad Saad Iqbal, President of Abtach, and Irsa Faruqui, President of Retrocube (collectively “Abtach TFEs”). …
Comment Period on Patent Eligibility Extended
On September 2, 2021, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office extended the deadline for submission of comments regarding the state of patent eligibility and its effectiveness on U.S. investments and innovation. The new date is October 15, 2021. The USPTO issued a notice on the Federal Register on July 9, 2021, requesting comments on patent …
Trademark Scammer Sentenced
On September 15, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that a Latvian citizen was sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for masterminding a trademark mail fraud scheme. Rhett DeHart, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina, also announced that defendant Viktors Suhorukovs has been ordered to pay $4.5 …
U.S. Patent No. 10,888,283 B1
U.S. Patent No. 10,888,283 B1 (‘283), issued on January 12, 2021, to applicants/inventors Boonsieng Benjauthrit, Sorapod B. Benjauthrit, Vatcharee L. Benjauthrit, and Kamolchanok J. Benjauthrit, all of La Cañada, California. The claims are directed to an apparatus called a COVID-19 Symptoms Alert Machine (CSAM) scanning device comprising the scanner, temperature scanner, a patient-provided health information …
U.S. Patent No. 10,874,687 B1
U.S. Patent No. 10,874,687 B1 (‘687), issued on December 29, 2020, to inventors Jean-Pierre Sommadossi of Boston, Massachusetts, and Adel Moussa of Burlington, Massachusetts. The applicant/assignee is Atea Pharmaceuticals, Inc. of Boston, Massachusetts, an anti-viral drug developer. The claims are directed to a method of therapeutic use for treating COVID-19, comprising the purine nucleotide phosphoramidate …
U.S. Patent No. D907,885 S1
U.S. Patent No. D907,885 S1 (‘885) issued on January 21, 2021, for “Funerary Urn.” It was issued to inventor Alex Borzaga of Cavareno, Italy. The applicant/assignee is Fenicetek of Turin, Italy. This patent is a design patent under 35 U.S.C. §171, which protects the ornamental features of an article of manufacture. The features protect the …
U.S. Patent No. 10,780,052 B2
U.S. Patent No. 10,780,052 (‘052) B2, issued on September 22, 2020, to inventors Frank DeRosa, Michael Heartlein, and Shirang Karve of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and applicant/assignee, Translate Bio, Inc., of Lexington, Massachusetts. The ‘052 patent claims priority to a provisional application filed October 22, 2013. The claims are directed to a method of therapeutic delivery of …