Tayan Patel

New Combined Petition Option for the Expanded Collaborative Search Pilot Program – Is It Worth Implementing Into Your International Patent Portfolio Strategy?

By Tayan Patel on March 31, 2022 Posted in USPTO

Effective March 29, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) will accept a new combined petition option to participate in the Expanded Collaborative Search Pilot (CSP) program. The Expanded CSP program is currently active through Oct. 31, 2022, with each intellectual … Continue Reading

Substance Over Form — When a Quote May Constitute a Commercial Offer for Sale

By Tayan Patel on February 22, 2022 Posted in Patents

Recently the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment of no invalidity of a design patent under the on-sale bar provision of 35 U.S.C. § 102. Junker v. Medical Components, Inc., No. 2021-1649 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2022). The Federal Circuit agreed with defendants-appellants (collectively, MedComp) that a pre-critical date letter, i.e., … Continue Reading

Does Your Patent Application Qualify for the PTAB’s Fast-Track Appeal Pilot Program?

By Tayan Patel on February 23, 2021 Posted in Patents

The USPTO recently launched the Fast-Track Appeal Pilot Program on July 2, 2020. The Pilot Program is slated to last one year, with a cap of 125 granted petitions per quarter – 500 total for the year. According to a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) webinar hosted on Feb. 18, 2021, the PTAB may … Continue Reading

Recent Trends of Pilot-Eligible MTAs and Complementary Post Grant Strategies

By Tayan Patel on February 18, 2021 Posted in Patent

The USPTO’s Motion to Amend (MTA) Pilot Program has been in effect for nearly two years. The Pilot Program applies to all AIA trials instituted on or after March 15, 2019. Broadly, the Pilot Program’s objective is to provide patent owners with the additional options of requesting Preliminary Guidance from the Patent Trial and Appeal … Continue Reading

Precedential Opinion Stressing That Design Patents Cover Articles of Manufacture

By Tayan Patel on September 18, 2019 Posted in Patent

In a case of first impression, the Federal Circuit held that “claim language can limit the scope of a design patent where the claim language supplies the only instance of an article of manufacture that appears nowhere in the figures.” Curver Luxembourg, SARL v. Home Expressions Inc., No. 2018-2214 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 12, 2019). … Continue Reading