Patent

“Qualified women are unnecessarily excluded from membership in the patent bar,” wrote Mary T. Hannon in a recent law review article seen by Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Thom Tillis (R-NC)…

‘We Want Action’: Rightsholder Reps Address Platforms in IP Subcommittee Hearing, as DMCA Reform Draft Looms

December 15, 2020

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held its last hearing of the year on reforms to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) today, three days before Subcommittee Chairman…

Lowering the Bar to Diversify the Patent Bar Would Be Misguided and Unethical

December 14, 2020

On December 11, Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), sent a letter to United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Andrei Iancu inquiring about…

Some Small Entities Agree with Big Tech on PTAB Institution Rules: Congress Must Address Why

December 13, 2020

Historically, startups bring more new technologies to market and create more new jobs than any other entity type. Investment is critical to any startup, and patents are often the only…

WIPO’s INSPIRE Offers a New Way to Select Databases for Patent Searches Involving Machine Translations

December 12, 2020

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched their INSPIRE (Index of Specialized Patent Information Reports) “database of databases” on November 4, 2020. It provides useful summaries of patent databases to…

Other Barks & Bites for Friday, December 11: Tillis Bill Would Make Illegal Streaming a Felony; PTAB Rule Changes Eliminates Presumption Favoring IPR Petitioners; FTC Files Antitrust Suit Against Facebook; EPO Study Shows Exponential Growth of ‘4IR’ Tech

December 11, 2020

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the FTC files an antitrust suit against Facebook in U.S. district court over monopolistic business acquisitions and anticompetitive conditions on software developers; the…

SIPCO v. Emerson Underscores Inherent Problems with CBM: So Don’t Revive It

December 10, 2020

Litigation, Patent

In the late 1990s, prolific inventor David Petite invented a foundational technology for the Internet of Things. His invention drove proliferation of wirelessly networked machines and met with huge commercial…

Calls for WTO to Suspend IP Rights for Vaccine Innovation Would Jeopardize Incredible Progress

December 9, 2020

The biggest vaccination effort in the history of medicine is underway to eradicate the global pandemic, with several strong prospects appearing poised for regulatory approval. As of December 2020, data…

The Comments Are In: More Have Their Say on USPTO Discretion to Institute AIA Trials

December 8, 2020