Next month is the 15th Annual Advanced Patent Law Institute at the USPTO, and Maier and Maier’s own Stephen G. Kunin is set to moderate the Thursday morning session focused on Section 101: High Tech v. Life Sciences. Per the program description: ‘The U.S. patent statutes apply equally to all patent applications, but the application […] Final briefing from Appellant Arthrex, Inc., Appellees Arthrocare Corp. and Smith & Nephew, Inc., and the Intervening United States Government was filed January 17, 2020 on the request for en banc rehearing. The decision at issue centered on the constitutionality of the appointment process for the PTAB Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) and whether PTAB proceedings […] This past summer, the Federal Circuit issued an en banc decision against rehearing in Athena Diagnostics, Inc., et al. v. Mayo Collaborative, et al. In the 7-5 decision, there were a staggering 8 separate opinions (four concurring and four dissenting). The common refrain in each was the need for the Supreme Court to address the […] On January 17th, 2020, Chief Judge Barbara Lynn granted Nintendo’s Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law, invalidating iLife’s patent claim asserted against Nintendo for its Wii U games and the resulting jury verdict award of $10.1 million. In the motion, Nintendo raised challenges that the patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,864,796) for Systems Within […] On October 15, 2019, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued a Final Written Decision upholding all 19 remaining claims at issue as valid over 101 and 112 arguments in PGR2018-00061. The challenged patent, 9,700,793, “relates to a recording medium storing a game program, a game processing method, and an information processing apparatus.” The petition […] The 5G Standard Essential Patent (SEP) Declaration efforts are ongoing as companies around the globe are vying for position in the 5G IP game. The standard looks to define the patents necessary to implement 5G technology into the market to organize future licensing arrangements and portfolio evaluations. The declaration process is being overseen by 3GPP, […] On September 12, 2019, the Federal Circuit upheld the District Court of New Jersey’s finding that a design patent’s scope is limited by the language in its claims, rather than just its figures. The decision, in Curver Luxembourg, SARL v. Home Expressions Inc., heightens the importance of titles and claim language used when drafting design […] Under the America Invents Act, one of the new programs put into effect in 2011 was the Prioritized Examination Track. This Pilot Program allowed applicants to petition for special status in examination, placing it on a separate special docket with a goal of 12 months to issue. In order to qualify, the applicant must comply […] The 16th Annual Summit on Protecting Innovations in the Financial Services Industry took place July 24th-25th in New York City. Andrei Iancu, the Director of the USPTO, joined other notable members of the FinTech industry including Tariq Hafiz, Group Director of 3600 Tech Group at the USPTO, inhouse counsel for major industry members, and private […] The Supreme Court has granted certiorari to two cases that could have significant impacts on trademark litigation. In Lucky Brands Dungarees, Inc., et al. v. Marcel Fashions, Inc., the Court will address whether new, un-litigated defenses in response to newly asserted claims are permissible with federal preclusion principles. Meanwhile, in Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, […]