artful Insights
artful Insights
Double Patenting Drama: Recent Cases and USPTO Proposals
The legal framework for obviousness-type double patenting (ODP) and its relationship to patent term adjustment (PTA) continues to evolve. In Gilead, the Federal Circuit held that a later-issued but earlier-expiring patent is a proper ODP reference…
Read MorePatent Eligibility Test Under 35 U.S.C. § 101 and Response Strategies
The precedent set by the Supreme Court in Diamond v. Chakrabarty (447 U.S. 303 (1980)) held that “anything under the sun that is made by man” is patentable under 35 U.S.C. § 101. This standard…
Read MoreTrademark Rights and Freedom of Speech: Unpacking the Supreme Court’s Ruling in Vidal v. Elster
The Supreme Court issued its decision in Vidal v. Elster this past week. Elster addresses a constitutional challenge to the prohibition on the registration of a mark that “[c]onsists of or comprises a name … identifying…
Read MoreDon’t Ask Your Lawyer for a “Standard Agreement”
Clients will often contact their attorney and ask for a “standard agreement.” Essentially the request is for the lawyer to pull something out of their form bank that can be provided for little or no…
Read MoreVisual Signatures: Trade Dress Law for Brand Protection
Trade dress serves as the visual signature of a brand, encompassing everything from product and packaging designs to color schemes and overall presentation. In essence, it’s the unique “look and feel” that sets a product…
Read MoreUSPTO Inventorship Guidelines for AI-Assisted Inventions
President Biden issued the “Executive Order on the Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” on October 30, 2023, including the objective to “promote a fair, open, and competitive ecosystem and marketplace…
Read MoreThe Dilemma of Delay: Prosecution Laches
Patent prosecution laches is an equitable doctrine whereby patent claims can be rejected for unreasonable and undue delay in prosecution. Prosecution laches can also be invoked in litigation proceedings to render patent claims unenforceable. Prosecution…
Read MoreUpcoming Supreme Court IP Oral Argument: What’s at Stake in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral argument on February 21 in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy, No. 22-1078. The case centers on the Copyright Act’s statute of limitations, which provides in relevant…
Read MorePotential Changes Coming to Design Patent Validity
The Federal Circuit recently granted en banc rehearing in the case of LKQ Corp. v. GM Global Technology Operations LLC. The court’s order granting rehearing shows that the case has the potential to result in…
Read MoreContext Matters
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently decided Axonics, Inc. v. Medtronic, Inc., 2022-1451, 2022-1452, (July 10, 2023) (Appeals taken from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board…
Read MoreAmgen v. Sanofi: Implications for the Enablement Standard
In 2014, Amgen Inc. sued Sanofi and others for infringement of multiple patents covering technology related to monoclonal antibody therapies for treating high cholesterol. Sanofi et al. argued noninfringement because the claims were not enabled…
Read MorePatent Your AI, Don’t AI Your Patents
The release of ChatGPT in late 2022 created a tsunami of interest. That tsunami has spawned countless articles about the impending doom of knowledge-based professions extending from teachers to lawyers and doctors to accountants. It…
Read MoreNew Upcoming Supreme Court Trademark Case
On June 5th, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Vidal v. Elster, No. 22-704, to address the constitutionality of a refusal to register a trademark under 15 U.S.C. § 1052(c). Although the case arises from a…
Read MorePatenting Chemical Compositions Containing Natural Products
The Supreme Court has identified the patenting of natural products as a judicial exception to patentability. Claims directed to nothing more than abstract ideas (such as mathematical algorithms), natural phenomena, and laws of nature are…
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