Newsstand

The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s 2018 Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) Annual Report is now available online.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on November 19, 2018, affirmed-in-part and vacated and remanded-in-part the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s decisions in a pair of inter partes reviews.

Effective December 1, 2018, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Digital Access Service (DAS) will manage electronic retrievals of priority documents between the USPTO and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), in accordance with the WIPO DAS agreement established on April 20, 2009.

After affirming a district court judgement against Enplas Display Device Corp., the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on November 19, 2018, vacated the $4 million patent infringement damages award that Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd. had won. Enplas Display Device Corp. v. Seoul Semiconductor Co., Fed. Cir., 2016-2599, 11/19/18.

The US Patent and Trademark Office will convene an all-day program titled, "Artificial Intelligence: Intellectual Property Policy Considerations,” on Wednesday, December 5, 2018, in the Madison auditorium of their Alexandria, Virginia headquarters.

The Copyright Royalty Board on November 26, 2018, published final regulations setting rates and terms for digital music streamers like Spotify, Apple, Google, and Amazon.

On November 6, 2018, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that certain elements of three patents owned by Acceleration Bay LLC are invalid.

On November 1, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reissued a modified opinion holding that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred when it held that a certain GoPro catalog is not a prior art printed publication.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, on November 8, 2018, announced the appointment of Laura A. Peter as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

On October 31, 2018, the United States Patent and Trademark Office released the latest revision of the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP).

The Indiana Supreme Court, on October 24, 2018, answered a certified question from the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on whether online for-profit fantasy-sports need the consent of players whose names, pictures, and statistics are used in the contests, in advertising the contests, or both.

The USPTO has announced that Phase 1 of its Access to Relevant Prior Art (RPA) Initiative will begin Nov. 1, 2018.

The USPTO has published a Request for Comments (RFC) on a proposed procedure for motions to amend filed in AIA trials before the PTAB.

Registration is now open for the Feb. 5 - 7, 2019 USPTO Inventor 3-Day Course on Examination Practice and Procedure.

The Federal Circuit on October 12, 2018, affirmed a district court decision invalidating Teva’s patents for Copaxone, its best-selling multiple sclerosis drug.

The Supreme Court on October 15, 2018, declined to review a Federal Circuit decision affirming a district court’s holding that two of Two-Way Media Ltd.’s patents directed to internet streaming of video and audio were ineligible for protection.

The US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on October 15, 2018, reversed a district court order certifying a class of indirect purchasers of the drug Asacol to pursue antitrust claims against Allergan Inc., the drugmaker.

Congress recently passed the Orrin G. Hatch–Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act, which the president signed into law on October 11, 2018.

On October 9, 2018, President Donald J. Trump signed into law S. 2559, the “Marrakesh Treaty Implementation Act,” which provides for the implementation of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled.

On September 10, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s decision to invalidate IXI IP LLC’s patent related to sharing an internet connection over Bluetooth because it’s obvious in light of prior inventions.