PA Bar: Removing The Exclusivity Of “Patent Attorney”

[EDIT: The Pennsylvania House of Delegates voted down this measure in May 2019, mostly due to issues unrelated to the “patent attorney” designation discussed herein.] The Pennsylvania Bar Association, following the American Bar Association’s adoption of new Model Rules in August 2018 (deleting earlier Rule 7.4) and  seeking to conform Pennsylvania’s Rules to follow the ABA, has proposed…

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New USPTO Director Andrei Iancu’s Pro-Innovation Remarks

Following the last several years where Congress, the courts, and even the former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director were accused of being anti-innovation, the new director Andrei Iancu delivered these pointedly pro-innovation remarks yesterday. Innovators should applaud what some believe is an overdue return of a painful pendulum swing. Here is his introduction:Dr. Eli Harari, an electrical engineer, always tinkered and…

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Secret Sales Are Prior Art Under The America Invents Act

Share on facebookShare on twitterShare on linkedin You sell something but keep the details of the sale a secret. Is this still a sale that bars issuance of a patent under 35 USC 102: “A person shall be entitled to a patent unless the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in…

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Propeller Head Reads: February

Norse Mythologyby Neil GaimanOdin, Thor, Loki. I knew the names but not the stories. Gaiman is a lover of myth and there could be no better guide to these tales than him. Enjoy hearing these tales sounding over hundreds of years echoing in Northern European fjords.

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Prop Head Book Review: Thank You For Being Late

Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of AccelerationsBy Thomas FriedmanWhat happens when shattering the norm becomes the norm? When disruption is not a wave that comes every so often, but the tide carrying us all? In examining both these questions, and some speculative answers to them, Friedman captures…

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USPTO Adds Another Final Office Action Option: P3 Pilot Program

The USPTO recently announced a 6 month pilot program to give applicants another option for responding to final office actions. Here is a discussion of current after final options.The USPTO often releases its ideas for pilot programs, asking the public for comment, but in this case it announced that the program will open immediately and will close on January…

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2016 May Patent Law Update

By Stephen B. SchottPRIORITY DATES OF EARLIER APPLICATIONSImmersion Corp. v. HTC Corp, Civil Action No. 12-259-RGA, (D.Del 2015)This case is now on appeal to the Federal Circuit and could have wide ramifications. The statute at issue is 35 USC 120. An application for patent … in an application previously filed in the United States…shall have the same effect……

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