At long last, the Unitary Patent (UP) and the Unitary Patent Court (UPC) are set to begin on June 1, 2023. This has been a long-awaited process, which has seen the roll-out delayed not once, not twice, but three times. The UP is expected to a major effect on foreign patent prosecution strategies since, by …
Category: patent
DOCX Filing Requirement to Begin for Patent Applications
Today is the date in which new patent applications under 35 U.S.C. §111(a) (i.e., any U.S. nonprovisional application) must be filed using the .DOCX format, which is the file extension format used for Microsoft Word documents, as announced by the USPTO in a blog posting on December 19, 2022. This has been in planning for …
Fed Circuit is Irritated by Renegade Judge Albright
In In re Apple Inc.,[1] the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit granted Apple’s petition for writ of mandamus ordering the judge presiding over its district court patent infringement case, Alan D. Albright, in the Western District of Texas, rule on its motion to transfer venue before disposition of any discovery on the merits. This …
Registered Trade Dress Protectible Even if Many Features of Product Design Are Functional
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled on November 9, 2022, in SoClean, Inc. v. Sunset Healthcare Solutions, Inc.,[1] in a decision involving trade dress, a sub-category of trademark law. SoClean owned a registration for the trade dress of the sanitization devices under U.S. Trademark Reg. No. 6,080,195 (“’195 registration”). SoClean sued Sunset …
Comments Due on §101 Patent Eligibility Guidance
Back in July 2022, the new Director of the USPTO, Kathi Vidal, announced that the USPTO would be seeking comments on its anticipated guidance on §101 patent-eligibility. The deadline for those comments is rapidly approaching on September 15, 2022. The announcement was made against the backdrop of the USPTO’s release of a report to Congress …
Sequence Listing Big Bang Date Has Arrived
July 1, 2022 is the so-called “Big Bang” deadline for new PCT applications which disclose nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences to be filed using the new WIPO’s ST.26 Standard, rather than the previous ST.25 Standard. WIPO, or World Intellectual Property Organization, is the international agency that administers the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and had announced …
USPTO Terminating Agreement with Rospatent
Just as the war in Ukraine resulting from Russia’s invasion has passed 100 days, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced it will terminate its agreement with its Russian counterpart, the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (aka Rospatent), effective December 1, 2022. Rospatent will no longer function as either …
DOJ Urges SCOTUS to Take Up Patent Eligibility
On May 24, 2022, the U.S. Solicitor General filed the government’s views on patent subject matter-eligibility as requested by the U.S. Supreme Court way back in May 2021. The Solicitor General requested that the U.S. Supreme Court grant the petition for certiorari in American Axle & Manuf., Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC.[1] The Solicitor General …
World I.P. Day
Today, April 26, 2022, is World I.P. Day, where the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized department of the United Nations, focuses attention on educating the public on all aspects of intellectual property rights and regimes. The theme this year is “IP and Youth.” This blog posting, however, will focus on COVID-19, and specifically …
U.S. Patent No. PP34,051 P3, for Cannabis Plant Named AV1-1
Today is an auspicious day for cannabis proponents, so we illustrate one recently issued patent to recognize this date. U.S. Patent No. PP34,051 P3 (‘051) issued on March 22, 2022, for “Cannabis Plant Named ‘AV1-1.’” It was issued to inventor Ytzchak Cohen of Tel Aviv, Israel. The applicant/assignee is Tikun Olam Ltd. of Tel Aviv, …