In SNIPR Techs. Ltd. v. Rockefeller Univ., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently held that “pure AIA patents and applications” – those that have only ever contained claims with post-AIA effective filing dates (i.e., on or after March 16, 2013) – can never be involved in a pre-AIA “interference,” the Patent Office procedure used to determine “priority of invention” when the United States still had a first-to-invent patent system. This result should surprise no one; shockingly, however, it appears to have come as a surprise to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office itself.  

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For the first time in over six years, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has decided to grant en banc rehearing of a patent case where all twelve of the sitting judges of the CAFC will hear the case. The ruling has the potential to change the way obviousness is determined in design patents, lowering the bar for obviousness and doing away with a test that has been applied to design patents since 1982.

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Photo Credit: NordWood Themes

The U.S. Court of Appeals has affirmed a district court’s invalidation of an online dating app patent as claiming patent ineligible subject matter under Section 101 of the Patent Statute, as analyzed under the Alice two-step framework. The Court of Appeals reminded patent owners that neither fact discovery nor claim construction are necessarily required for patent invalidation at the initial pleading stage of the case.

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U.S. Trademark Law “Does Not Rule the World”

– The Arbitron Case

The U.S. Supreme Court has decided that United States law does not allow trademark owners to enforce U.S. trademarks against otherwise infringing conduct when that conduct occurs outside the United States. As the Court put it, “United States law governs domestically but does not rule the world.”

We are pleased to announce that OBWB is sponsoring the September 11th, D&I Networking Reception at IPO's Annual Meeting. We look forward to connecting with our fellow conference attendees. See you in Boston! #IPOAM23