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Intellectual Property Litigation United States Patent and Trademark Office

Fish & Richardson

Federal Circuit Finds Beer Trademark Application Nothing but "Chicken Scratch"

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In yet another recent example of the need for care in establishing a full record when appealing the denial of a trademark application, on April 14, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the denial of...more

McGlinchey Stafford

The #1 Reason to Register Your Trademark

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There are many valuable benefits of registering one’s trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). A cursory Internet search will yield dozens of articles on the “Top 10” or “Top 5” reasons to...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Opposers Beware: Your Own Mark May Not Be Protectable

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board’s dismissal of an opposition to the registration of the marks IVOTERS and IVOTERS.COM while also noting that the US Patent &...more

Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C.

Understanding the PTAB’s Recent Informative Decision: Cambridge Mobile Telematics, Inc. v. Sfara, Inc.

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) recently designated its decision in Cambridge v. Sfara (IPR2024-00952) as an informative decision.[1] This designation addresses an important issue in inter partes review (IPR)...more

Knobbe Martens

Traffix Jam – Technical Functionality Prevents Trademark Protection for the Color Pink

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CERAMTEC GMBH v. COORSTEK BIOCERAMICS LLC - Before Lourie, Taranto, and Stark.  Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. A utility patent may still be considered strong...more

Knobbe Martens

Zoned Out: The Zone of Natural Expansion Doctrine Can Only Be Used Defensively

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DOLLAR FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. v. BRITTEX FINANCIAL, INC. [OPINION] - Before Prost, Taranto, and Hughes.  Appeal from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The zone of natural...more

Baker Botts L.L.P.

First Quarter 2025 Federal Circuit Law Snapshot

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Since serving as a Federal Circuit clerk, Michael Hawes has monitored that court's precedential opinions and prepares a deeply outlined index by subject matter (invalidity, infringement, claim construction, etc.) of relevant...more

Benesch

AI Reporter - April 2025

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There were several notable developments in March in the AI copyright lawsuits previously reported here. Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic scored partial dismissals in their respective cases. These results show that the...more

Jones Day

PTAB Announces a Bifurcated Process for Consideration of IPR and PGR Petitions

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A new interim process for the acting director to exercise discretion as to whether to institute an inter partes review ("IPR") or a post-grant review ("PGR") was announced on March 26, 2025, in which discretionary...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Fintiv Guidelines for Post-Grant Proceedings Involving Parallel District Court Litigation

On March 24, 2025, the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) released new guidance that clarifies application of the Fintiv factors when reviewing validity challenges simultaneously asserted at the Patent Trial & Appeal Board...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Does Your Office Post-Grant Strategy Account for the Rise of Serial Challenges Flowing From the PTAB to the CRU?

After eight weeks of shifts in governmental policies, the patent bar is feeling repercussions from all directions. One critical area in flux is the post-grant challenge arena. With a reduced PTAB head count and a steady...more

Warner Norcross + Judd

It’s Confirmed: Discretionary Denials Will Likely be on the Rise Following USPTO’s New Guidance Following Withdrawal of Fintiv...

Following the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) decision to rescind the Fintiv Memo on Feb. 28, 2025, the result was that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) would have greater flexibility in exercising its...more

Proskauer - The Patent Playbook

Further Shifts in Patent Office Guidance for Discretionary Denials Signal Uphill Battles for Patent Challengers

On the heels of the rescission of the Fintiv guidance memorandum, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has again reshaped the PTAB’s approach to discretionary denials. On March 26, 2025, the Acting Director issued a new...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

USPTO Implements Bifurcated Review Process for PTAB Petitions Under New Policy

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USPTO Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart announced that she will personally decide whether to deny each petition challenging a patent on discretionary grounds before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board evaluates the merits....more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Sterne Kessler’s Reissue, Reexamination, and Supplemental Examination Practice Tips – March 2025

In the mid-2000s, the U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) determined that reexaminations would be more consistent and legally correct if performed by a centralized set of experienced and specially trained Examiners. As a result, the...more

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

New USPTO Processes Put in Place Regarding PTAB Institution Decisions

On March 26, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced new interim procedures for handling discretionary denials of post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).  These changes are...more

WilmerHale

USPTO Issues Memo on Interim Process for PTAB Discretionary Denial Evaluation

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On March 26, 2025, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office Coke Morgan Stewart issued a memorandum that makes several significant...more

Kilpatrick

Pre-Institution Overhaul: Unpacking the PTAB’s New Briefing Procedures

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Hot on the heels of rescinding former Director Vidal’s June 2022 memo providing guidance on discretionary denials, Acting Director of the USPTO, Coke Morgan Stewart, issued a memo yesterday outlining new “Interim Processes...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Pivot At The PTAB: The Acting Director Bifurcates Review

With two memoranda this week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has made significant changes to trials at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”). Those trials—introduced in 2012 by the Leahy-Smith...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

Compassion in Registration: A Lesson in Filing Narrow Trademark Applications

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Identical trademarks can coexist, as the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board once again emphasized when it overturned the refusal of a COMPASSION IN ACTION mark. ...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

How Should a Licensing Commitment Affect the Availability of Injunctions at the ITC?

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Governed by 19 U.S.C. § 337, the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) is empowered to investigate unfair acts in the importation of articles into the United States. The ITC can be a powerful forum for owners of U.S....more

Foley Hoag LLP

D.C. Circuit Holds that AI-Generated Artwork is Ineligible for Copyright Protection

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Key Takeaways: - Confirming the position of the Copyright Office and past precedent considering the possibility of non-human authors, the D.C. Circuit held this week that the Copyright Act does not protect works created...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Merck Sharp & Dohme B.V. v. Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2025)

Early last year, Aurobindo, one of the Defendants* in ANDA litigation against Merck, advanced the proposition that in cases where a patent had been reissued patent term extension ("PTE") under 35 U.S.C. § 156 should be...more

Goodwin

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s In Re Xencor Decision: Jepson Claims Require Written Description for Their...

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On March 13, 2025, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) issued a decision titled In Re: Xencor, Inc. (the Xencor decision). The Xencor decision affirms the decision of the Appeals Review Panel...more

Proskauer - The Patent Playbook

Focus on Fintiv: Shift in Patent Office Guidance for Discretionary Denials of Patent Challenges

On February 28, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was rescinding a 2022 memorandum that provided guidance regarding the application of the Apple v. Fintiv decision to the Patent Trial and Appeal...more

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