On Wednesday, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom declared that the COVID-19 outbreak "can be characterized as a pandemic," cautioning that the WHO has "rung the alarm bell loud and clear." At the time of the announcement, the WHO noted that there were 118,000 cases reported globally in 114 countries. In its latest situation report, the WHO indicates that as of March 15, there have been 153,517 cases in 143 countries. The Director-General also stated on Wednesday that "[t]his is not just a public health crisis, it is a crisis that will touch every sector – so every sector and every individual must be involved in the fight." The WHO's declaration on Wednesday – and global developments concerning the COVID-19 pandemic since then – raises the question of how the pandemic has been affecting patent offices and the courts.
On Friday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that examiner and examining attorney interviews, Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) oral hearings, and other similar in-person meetings with parties and stakeholders scheduled to take place at the USPTO's offices on that day would be conducted remotely by video or telephone. At about the same time that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a recommendation this evening that "for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States," the USPTO distributed a USPTO Alert e-mail to stakeholders that announced the closure of USPTO facilities to the public. In particular, the USPTO announced that:
Out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of the public and USPTO employees, all USPTO offices will be closed to the public beginning Monday, March 16, 2020 until further notice. USPTO offices will remain open for employees, contractors, and those with access badges. Unless otherwise notified, USPTO operations will continue without interruption. Patent and trademark application deadlines and other deadlines are not extended. Those with official business with the USPTO should reach out to their points of contact with any questions or through the CONTACT US link. Thank you for your cooperation. We regret any inconvenience. For more information on coronavirus please visit: cdc.gov/covid19.
Earlier this month, the World Intellectual Property Organization issued an update on COVID-19, stating that as of March 6, WIPO "remain[ed] operational and the Organization continues to liaise with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Swiss authorities and take measures, in line with their guidelines, to mitigate the effects of this situation." WIPO noted that such measures include:
• Postponement (cancellation if postponement is not possible) of all events and meetings organized or co-organized by WIPO, either in Geneva or elsewhere, during the months of March and April;
• Suspension of group visits to WIPO, until further notice;
• Limiting duty travel to essential trips, until further notice.
WIPO also released an informational notice for meeting participants.
On Thursday, the European Patent Office provided an update on COVID-19 on its website. The EPO announced that oral proceedings before examining and opposition divisions would "in principle take place as scheduled," but that oral proceedings involving parties or representatives who have recently visited "high risk areas" (defined by the EPO as China, South Korea, Iran, Italy, the German Landkreis Heinsberg in Nordrhein-Westfalen, and the French region Grand Est) would be held by videoconference or postponed, upon request. The EPO also indicated that:
In other cases where the general spread of Coronavirus prevents a party or representative from attending oral proceedings, for instance in case of travel restrictions in companies or patent attorney firms, the EPO will do everything feasible to remove the need for the party or representative to travel to oral proceedings. In particular, oral proceedings by videoconference will be offered in examination and, to the extent possible, in opposition proceedings. The relevant party or representative should indicate in each particular case which alternative measures they request.
The EPO further announced that:
– We are postponing all EPO organised events that involve more than 50 participants in March and April. Organisers will contact participants on an individual basis and, where possible, inform them of the new dates.
– We are requesting external partners to abstain from visiting the EPO if they have recently visited a high risk area.
– We are cancelling all duty travel scheduled for March and April as of 5 March 2020. This includes any travel between EPO sites (except for movements between our local offices in Munich). All staff who are currently on duty travel are recommended to return to their usual place of work as soon as reasonably possible.
On Thursday, the United States Courts website, which is maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the Federal Judiciary, released a statement on the "Judiciary Preparedness for Coronavirus (COVID-19)." That statement indicated that "Federal courts are individually coordinating with state and local health officials to obtain local information about the coronavirus (COVID-19), and some have issued orders relating to court business, and public and employee safety," and recommended that site visitors use the Federal Court Finder to navigate to a court's website for court specific information.
The Federal Circuit earlier announced that "[c]urrently, there has been no adjustment in court operations," and that "[t]he court will provide additional information to litigants and the public should there be a change to that status." On Thursday, the Federal Circuit announced that:
As part of the Federal Circuit's response to public health guidance to minimize the risk of community transmission of COVID-19 in the United States, the court is proceeding with arguments scheduled for the April 2020 sitting as follows. Some of the cases are being removed from the argument calendar and will be submitted on the briefs. In cases remaining on the argument calendar, if counsel for either party is located outside the National Capital area, the argument will be conducted by telephonic conference at the date and time previously scheduled. In cases scheduled for argument where counsel for both parties are local, as of now, the court plans to proceed with in-person argument as previously scheduled. Parties in all cases will be notified individually as to how we plan to proceed in their case.
According to established practice, the court will release same-day audio for all arguments on its website (available at http://www.cafc.uscourts.gov/oral-argument-recordings). The court will continue to provide updated information to litigants and the public as the situation develops.
Patent Docs will continue to monitor and report on patent-related developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
