Illuminating the path in intellectual property law.
Effective January 18, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) will update some of its trademark proceedings and fees. The changes aim to provide the USPTO with the additional funding needed to continue to improve its operations and streamline its services, including reducing processing delays, improving examination, enhancing IT systems, and addressing the …
Continue reading “Get Ready for Changes to USPTO Trademark Proceedings and Fees in January 2025”
This is the second post in a 3-part series. Example 48 is described below, which is directed to analyzing speech signals and separating desired speech from extraneous or background speech using AI. Example 48. Speech Separation Key Takeaway for Claim 1: Example 48, Claim 1 could be interpreted as receiving spoken audio, and deriving/calculating data …
Part 1 On July 17, 2024, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (the Office) released new guidance on subject matter eligibility, entitled “The 2024 Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance Update Including on Artificial Intelligence” (2024 AI SME Update). The 2024 AI SME Update is a lifeline for patent prosecutors prosecuting AI patent applications because it …
The Amazon Patent Evaluation Express (APEX) program offers patent owners a cost-effective way to address claims that third-party product listings are infringing on their utility patents. Under the APEX program, a third-party arbitrator assesses whether a product available on Amazon.com infringes a utility patent, leading to the removal of the listing if the article determines …
Continue reading “Amazon’s Patent Enforcement Program Establishes Personal Jurisdiction”
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) periodically evaluates the delicate balance of the U.S. patent system to protect innovation without excessively stifling competition. U.S. patents give patent owners the exclusive right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing the claimed invention typically for 20 years; however, the risk of patent infringement …
Continue reading “Terminal Disclaimer Rule Proposed to Balance Innovation and Competition”
Most inventors can attest to the surprise they felt upon learning that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) likely will not respond to their first patent application for a couple of years after filing. To address this concern, in 2023, the USPTO introduced the First-Time Filer Expedited Examination Pilot Program, which was designed …
The European Court of Justice affirmed an earlier decision of the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in a case where Puma was attempting to gain a European Union (EU) Community Design on its “Puma Creeper Shoe.” On March 6, 2024, the EU Court struck down the validity of Puma’s registered EU design, based on a …
Continue reading “Getting Off on the Wrong Foot: How Marketing Strategies Can Backfire”
Similar to other jurisdictions, a patent in Canada is granted for one invention only. Accordingly, in instances where multiple inventions are claimed in a single application, it may be necessary to parse out the inventions and protect them by filing divisional applications. However, care must be taken to avoid potential double patenting issues. The Supreme …
Guidance on using AI to Invent Due to the quick rise of artificial intelligence (AI), most (if not all) of the laws relating to the US patent system were not written with AI in mind. Court precedent and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) guidelines have taken the place of written law to …
A basic understanding of Intellectual Property (IP) law is essential to managing an Amazon storefront, as IP issues can be a minefield for the uninformed. Amazon sellers must understand the major forms of intellectual property –patents, trademarks, and copyrights–and the common pitfalls associated with each form to avoid infringement allegations, storefront disruptions or closures, and …
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