Tagged: PTAB

USPTO Waives Certain Deadlines in Light of the Coronavirus Outbreak

On March 31, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued a notice permitting 30-day extensions to the time allowed to file certain patent-related documents and to pay certain required fees. Gibbons previously analyzed the first USPTO coronavirus guidance. For this second guidance, the USPTO determined, under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), that the COVID-19 “emergency has prejudiced the rights of applicants, patent owners, or others appearing before the USPTO in patent matters, and has prevented applicants, patent owners, or others appearing before the USPTO in patent matters from filing a document or fee with the Office.” The USPTO thus provided parties with the ability to extend certain patent deadlines if the party is personally affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The USPTO notice expressly provides that three Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) deadlines may be extended for 30 days upon request: a request for rehearing of a PTAB decision; a petition to the Chief Judge under 37 C.F.R. § 41.3; and a patent owner preliminary response in a trial proceeding. “For all other situations, a request for an extension of time where the COVID-19 outbreak has prevented or interfered with a filing before the Board can be made by contacting the PTAB.” Relief under the notice is...

Federal Circuit to PTAB: Explain Yourself

On January 22, 2016, the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded a decision by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the “Board”) in an America Invents Act review, after ruling that the PTAB did not adequately describe its reasons for finding a Cutsforth Inc. brush holder patent invalid.

The Honorable Grace K. Obermann to Present at NJIPLA’s ETS Seminar on November 6, 2014

On Thursday, November 6, 2014, The Honorable Grace K. Obermann, Lead Administrative Patent Judge, USPTO, PTAB, will present on practicing before the PTAB at the New Jersey Intellectual Property Law Association’s seminar, “Electronics, Telecom & Software Patent Practice Update.” The seminar will also address topics such as licensing guidance, implications of recent Supreme Court decisions, and damages considerations.

PTAB Roundtables Coming to a City Near You

On March 25, 2014, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) would be hosting roundtables across the country to educate the public, and collect feedback regarding the new America Invents Act (AIA) trial proceedings. These roundtables are free and open to the public. According to Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the USPTO, Michelle Lee, “[t]hese roundtables are a part of USPTO’s ongoing efforts to provide more opportunities for the public and other key stakeholders to share ideas, feedback, experiences and insights on additional ways we can improve our processes.”

Gibbons Directors Robert Rudnick & Thomas Bean to Serve on Panel for Upcoming Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology Event

Robert E. Rudnick and Thomas J. Bean, Directors in the Gibbons Intellectual Property Department, will serve as panelists at the upcoming Gibbons Institute of Law, Science & Technology event, “USTPO Patent Post-Issuance Proceedings Under the American Invents Act — a New Frontier” on April 23. Mr. Rudnick and Mr. Bean, along with Kenneth Corsello of IBM and other industry and academic leaders, will address post-grant proceedings under the American Invents Act (AIA), from both the patent owner’s and challenger’s perspectives, as well as discovery and other new rules of practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). CLE credits for New Jersey and New York will be offered.