IP News Alerts
Expedited Examination for COVID-19 Related Patent Applications
January 26, 2022
Applicants seeking to patent COVID-19 related inventions may want to consider filing their applications under the USPTO’s COVID-19 prioritized examination pilot program. The...
Implementation of the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020
January 6, 2022
By: John L. DuPré and Timothy J. Meagher
The Trademark Modernization Act (TMA) was enacted in December 2020. In November 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued regulations to implement the TMA....
Epic Games' Battle Royale with Apple - Epic Games, Inc. v. Apple, Inc.
September 16, 2021
Epic Games fails to prove that Apple is a monopolist Apple must change its App Store rules to allow third-party developers to use other payment systems On September...
United States Supreme Court Decision in Arthrex Finds a Constitutional Remedy for the Structure of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in Post Grant Patent Challenges
June 25, 2021
By: Lawrence P. Cogswell III,, Ph.D. and Keith J. Wood
Decision addresses uncertainty about whether post-grant patent challenges are constitutional. With this ruling, many expect that the USPTO will create a formal procedure by which...
Supreme Court Limits Copyright Protection for Software
April 8, 2021
By: Brian T. Moriarty, Mary Lou Wakimura, and Timothy J. Meagher
On April 5, 2021, the United States Supreme Court, in Google v. Oracle, issued a landmark decision concerning the application of Copyright Laws to protect software. The Court ruled...
The Transition is Over: Evaluating Your Trademark and Design Portfolios in the EU and UK Now That BREXIT is Official
January 11, 2021
As of January 1, 2021, registered European Union (EU) Trademarks and Community Designs are no longer effective in the United Kingdom (UK). The United Kingdom Intellectual Property...
USPTO COVID-19 Response Update
June 5, 2020
The USPTO announced that it has launched the COVID-19 Response Resource Center to provide improved access to USPTO initiatives, programs, and other helpful intellectual property-related...
Federal Circuit Decision Shows How Software Improvements to Computer Technologies are Patentable
May 6, 2020
The Court held that “software can make patent-eligible improvements to computer technology, and related claims are eligible as long as they are directed to non-abstract improvements...
United States Patent Office Finds Artificial Intelligence System Cannot Be An Inventor
April 29, 2020
The United States Patent Office limits inventorship to “natural persons.” Under current U.S. patent law, identifying an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system as an inventor...
Justices Say Willfulness Not Needed For Trademark Profits
April 24, 2020
By: John L. DuPré and Timothy J. Meagher
Supreme Court clarifies that there is no willfulness requirement for awarding profits in trademark cases Defendant’s mental state is important in determining whether...
USPTO Extends Certain Patent and Trademark Deadlines Under the CARES Act
April 2, 2020
By: John L. DuPré and Deirdre E. Sanders
In accordance with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is providing for extensions of the time...
Does a “Full Moon” Mean Mars too?: Supreme Court Issues a Pair of Copyright Decisions Limiting Litigation Options
March 6, 2019
By: Brian T. Moriarty and Timothy J. Meagher
Supreme Court resolves conflicting decision by lower courts in copyright cases A plaintiff may not file a copyright litigation until the U.S. Copyright Office registers the copyright...