Imagine That IP Law Blog

Prior art searching is an important, but very time-consuming, part of the patent process. An applicant may optionally choose to run its own prior art search prior to filing an application. However, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will conduct its search later, during substantive examination. The result is that truly relevant art may surfaces only months or years have passed, when claim scope is already in motion and prosecution strategy is underway.

To help address this timing gap, the USPTO launched the Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot ... Read More ›

Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) is additional time added to the term of a patent based on delays by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during prosecution. The PTA is determined after an application has been granted a patent. An applicant or patent prosecutor should be cognizant of PTA during prosecution because any gain of PTA due to USPTO delay is reduced by applicant delay. In the lifetime of a patent that covers a successful product or technological standard, every day can be highly valuable. This is especially true for biotechnology and pharmaceutical patents for ... Read More ›

The United States Supreme Court’s decision in TC Heartland jolted the IP law community by displacing long-standing Federal Circuit precedent and leaving a divide amongst district court judges, as well as a bevy of unanswered questions.¹ Since TC Heartland, two more decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit help clarify the landscape for patent litigators. Additionally, a study from Lex Machina further outlines the shifting horizon of forum shopping.

In 1990, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided in VE Holdings v. Johnson Gas ... Read More ›