By: Rachel L. Pearlman When the Supreme Court eliminated the “teaching-suggestion-motivation” test in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc., it also eliminated the certainty regarding what is obvious and what is not obvious. This issue is particularly prevalent when an Examiner pens an Office Action that combines 6-8 references and uses this combination to reject…
By: Stephen P. Scuderi Under U.S. law (i.e., 37 CFR § 1.56) each and every individual associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application has a duty of candor and good faith in dealing with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This includes a duty to disclose to the USPTO all…
By: Arjay Parhar Image generation is one of the most popular AI tools. By exponentially lowering the requisite skill, high-quality content can now be generated remarkably quickly. Last Week Tonight perfectly showcased the ease, power, and creativity of AI generated images by showcasing host John Oliver’s passionate yet mariticidal affair with a cabbage, all generated…
By: Christina E. Brule The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) launched the First-Time Filer Expedited Examination Pilot Program (“Program”) on March 9, 2023. The Program is one of several initiatives developed by the USPTO and its Council for Inclusive Innovation (“CI2”) to promote diversity within the innovation ecosystem. Generally, under normal examination, non-provisional…
By: Jake M. Goldsmith Just before the New Year, President Biden signed into law the Unleashing American Innovators Act of 2022 (the “Act”), with the goal of addressing disparities in the U.S. patent system and expanding access to patents among underrepresented communities. The Act modifies the responsibilities of the USPTO to maintain and establish satellite…
By: Thomas Sica Business is becoming an increasingly global venture. With that, American businesses with trademarks in the global marketplace would be adept to enforce their intellectual property rights against infringement around the world. In recent years, many foreign companies have been taking American-owned trademarks and using, or even registering, them on similar or identical…
By: Stephen P. Scuderi Generally, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) takes about 24 months to make a final decision on the approval of a patent application. Much of this time is due to the long queue that an application must get through prior to being examined by a patent examiner at the…
By: Jake M. Goldsmith In December, 2020 the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act (the CASE Act) was signed into law at the height of the COVID 19 pandemic. The CASE Act provided for the creation of a Copyright Claims Board (CCB) by amending Title 17 of the USC to insert Chapter 15, titled “Copyright…
By: Rachel L. Pearlman When I discuss trademarks with clients, I often make the point that unlike copyrights and patents, trademarks, although registered by the hopeful future trademark-holder are largely for the benefit of the public. More accurately, the benefit of the consumer. A client’s trademark designates to the consumer the source of goods and…
By: Stephen P. Scuderi Under U.S law (i.e., 35 U.S.C. §101), patent eligible subject matter is defined as: “Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” However,…