Intellectual Property Law

To provide more certainty and predictability in proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Kathi Vidal issued updated guidance to the PTAB on permissible uses of applicant admitted prior art (AAPA) in inter partes review proceedings (IPRs) under 35 U.S.C. § 311. Read more

To promote consistent and clear PTAB decision-making, the USPTO has adopted an interim process for PTAB decision circulation and internal PTAB review. T Read more

On May 25, 2022, the USPTO fully reopened all locations to employees and resumed some in-person events and appointments for the public. Read more

The USPTO fee schedule was updated, effective June 1, 2022: Read more

The Intellectual Property (“IP”) Law Section of the California Lawyers Association will host its 46th Annual IP Institute, November 3-5, 2022, online and in person at the Laguna Cliffs Hotel in sunny Dana Point, California. Our hybrid event is one of the nation's premier IP conferences, offering access to top industry leaders and sessions, in a relaxed coastal atmosphere. It will cover a wide range of cutting-edge and compelling topics of intellectual property law and feature our popular IP Vanguard Awards event. Read more

Join us for our virtual event "The Patent Office Comes to California" Read more

The USPTO is increasing transparency through updates on the interim process for Director review webpage and through a new webpage that provides the status of Director review requests as it formalizes the Director review process. Read more

In December 2020, the USPTO solicited public comments, via a Federal Register Notice, on whether the USPTO’s interpretation of 35 U.S.C. section 171—specifically, the “article of manufacture” requirement—should be revised to protect new and emerging technologies including digital designs. Read more

On April 13, 2022, the USPTO welcomed Kathi Vidal as the new Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and agency Director, a role in which she will provide leadership and oversight to one of the largest intellectual property (IP) offices in the world and serve as principal advisor to President Biden through U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on domestic and international IP policy. Read more

Since the USPTO launched its trademark filer verification processes in January, in advance of the previously scheduled date of April 9 for the identity verification becoming mandatory, filers choosing to verify their identities have had the option to do so via a notarized paper process, or electronically via an online digital process through ID.me. Read more