The USPTO issued a guidance update on patent subject matter eligibility to address innovation in key emerging technologies, including in artificial intelligence (AI). This will assist USPTO personnel and stakeholders in determining subject matter eligibility under patent law of AI inventions. The update builds on previous guidance.
The clip-clop of horseshoes and the slow creaking of carriage wheels on the tarmacadam streets of London welcomed two weary American travelers after more than one month at sea on New Year’s Day, 1882. Accompanied by his wife, 33-year-old Lewis Latimer arrived with a daunting task before him: the electrified illumination of a city famous for its fog.
The Office of the Solicitor serves as legal counsel to the USPTO on intellectual property law and works in collaboration with the Department of Commerce on interagency intellectual property law matters, as well as with the Department of Justice in advocacy before all U.S. courts.
Under pressure to fight counterfeit products on its online platform and those accused of violating third-party patents, Amazon created its APEX program. It’s sort of an intramural arbitration process whereby someone claiming its patents were being infringed upon by an article sold on the Amazon website could—for a $4,000 fee—file a complaint and be bound by the final decision of the patent specialist retained by Amazon.
Since I began my tenure over two years ago, the USPTO has worked feverishly to increase American innovation and entrepreneurship. As part of our efforts, we have expanded our footprint so we can better serve every community across the nation.
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal published a director’s blog post July 11 addressing the office’s current backlog of patent and trademark applications, which the latest USPTO data show to be 785,387 unexamined applications/25.6 months total pendency for patents and 14.5 months total pendency for trademarks.
Inclusive innovation is a force that is crucial for building a better world. The NAI event, held June 16-18 in Raleigh, North Carolina, showcased a member organization comprising U.S. and international universities and governmental and nonprofit research institutes, with over 4,000 individual inventor members and Fellows spanning more than 250 institutions worldwide.
For 10 years, former and current staff from the USPTO’s Intellectual Property (IP) Attaché offices have visited businesses, inventor support organizations, and legal representatives to hear the concerns of stakeholders and educate them about IP. During recent visits to Orlando and Atlanta, the attachés continued the tradition, presenting a world of possibilities and information to local innovators exploring international IP protection.
As our readers know, one of Tangible IP’s criteria for assessing the health of the patent market is tied to large verdict awards that tend to make headlines and grab attention in the boardrooms. The past couple months provided its share of those, which should help long term in maintaining—if not increasing—patent valuations.
Dr. Charles Drew pioneered blood preservation and storage while advocating for more opportunities for Black physicians. Carrying a tray of bright red geraniums, Dr. Charles Richard Drew led his daughter to the backyard of their three-story house on the campus of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where a circular arrangement of colorful blooms awaited them.
The USPTO granted its 12 millionth utility patent on June 4. “Labeled Nucleotide Analogs, Reaction Mixtures, and Methods and Systems for Sequencing,” awarded to Pacific Bioscience in Menlo Park, California, involves a chemical reagent for use in DNA sequencing that produces faster and more accurate results.
SCOTUS’ ruling came in its May 9 decision on Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy, a case that asks whether a copyright plaintiff can recover damages for acts that allegedly occurred more than three years before the filing of a lawsuit.