Effective earlier this year, recently amended 37 C.F.R. §§ 2.161(h) and 7.37(h) empower the USPTO to require a registrant to submit additional documentation as “reasonably necessary” to prove use of the mark in connection with each and every good or service identified in the registration. This is to ensure that the register “accurately reflects marks … Continue Reading
[W]e find that the unique roles of patent agents, the congressional recognition of their authority to act, the Supreme Court’s characterization of their activities as the practice of law, and the current realities of patent litigation counsel in favor of recognizing an independent patent-agent privilege. Litigators – put your discovery pencils down. Inventors –pick up … Continue Reading
On February 5, 2015, the House Judiciary Chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), flanked by a bipartisan group of his peers, reintroduced his “Innovation Act” (H.R. 9). The bill is the second time in as many years that the Republican-controlled House has introduced legislation aimed at curtailing the excesses of patent protection litigation. In mid-2014, the … Continue Reading
