Related insights: IP Disputes and Litigation
Patenting Emerging Technologies – Determining How Far an Artisan’s Knowledge Goes
Aug 12 2020
Emerging technologies are developing at a blistering pace. One challenge for today’s patent practitioner is determining the extent to which a patent specification may rely on the knowledge of a person of ordinary skill in the art to provide support for certain claimed embodiments. That creates a tension between a company’s desire to protect valuable trade secrets versus the need to provide an enabling disclosure.
Christopher Hall in IPWatchdog: Lessons on Patent Subject Matter Eligibility from Dropbox v. Synchronoss
Jul 09 2020
Since the Supreme Court decided Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International et al. on June 19, 2014, the number of patent application rejections by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the number of cases in the courts, and the uncertainty about whether an issued patent will hold up in court over an inquiry into patent subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. §101 have all increased. Dropbox, Inc., Orcinus Holdings, LLC, v. Synchronoss Technologies, Inc., decided June 19, 2020, is a relevant recent (albeit nonprecedential) ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that serves as a useful case study on what worked and went well and what didn’t for both plaintiff and defendant in a Section 101 case.
The Supreme Court, Federal Circuit, and PTAB Dance to Boloro Over the Constitutionality of Administrative Patent Judges
Jul 09 2020
In a string of appeals from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has called into question the constitutional legitimacy of numerous inter partes and – as of this week – ex parte proceedings from the PTAB’s administrative patent judges (“APJs”). It is now up to the Supreme Court to take the stage, should it so choose, and decide whether those APJs were constitutionally appointed such that their decisions should stand. Should the Supreme Court grant certiorari, its decision could give many patent owners who lost at the PTAB the chance to have their ex parte and inter partes cases reheard.
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel Sides with Womble Bond Dickinson Client DynaEnergetics in Precedent-Setting Patent Decision
Jul 08 2020
Womble Bond Dickinson client DynaEnergetics Europe GmbH earned a complete and closely watched victory in a precedent-setting decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s Precedential Opinion Panel.
Jon Wolfsberger, Bill Jacobs, Dan Ovanezian and Pure Storage’s Joe Kucera Write on USPTO Deferred Examination Program for IAM Media
Jul 07 2020
The US Patent and Trademark Office’s Deferred Examination Program allows applicants to delay examination of a filed application for up to three years. Such a delay can, for example, help inventors much-needed extra time to secure funding, develop products and conduct market research. So it isn’t a surprise that the Deferred Examination Program has seen a dramatic increase in applications in recent years.
USPTO Makes the Patent “Fast-Track” Faster
Jul 06 2020
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is now accepting petitions for expedited resolution of ex parte appeals. Launched last week, the “Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program” aims to decide the average patent appeal within six to eight months faster than the current average.
7 Womble Bond Dickinson Attorneys Named to 2020 IAM Patent 1000; Firm’s California, Delaware & NC Patent Practices Also Recognized
Jun 16 2020
Seven Womble Bond Dickinson attorneys have been recognized by Intellectual Asset Management magazine in the IAM Patent 1000: The World’s Leading Patent Practitioners for 2020. In addition, the IAM Patent 1000 report recognizes Womble Bond Dickinson as a top firm for patent law in California, Delaware and North Carolina.
Nicholas Hawkins and Rose Smalley in Law360: Coronavirus-Related TM Filings Will Face Registration Hurdles
May 11 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic shutdown has impacted the daily lives of nearly every person on the planet. So it isn’t surprising that trademark offices across the globe have seen a number of filings to protect terms relating to “COVID” and “Coronavirus”. Womble Bond Dickinson attorneys Nicholas Hawkins (US) and Rose Smalley (UK) take a transatlantic look at these pending applications in a new article published by Law360.
Georgia’s Loss is the Public’s Gain: Supreme Court Says States May Not Copyright Legal Codes
Apr 27 2020
The US Supreme Court ruled today that state governments may not copyright annotated versions of their state’s legal code, saying that as a government edict, such information must be freely available to the public. The Court’s 5-4 decision in Georgia, et al. v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. provides clarity to an issue that the Supreme Court has not addressed for more than 100 years.
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