A new rule from the USPTO took effect July 20, effectively ending foreign pro se patent prosecution: Patent applicants and patent owners whose domicile is outside the United States or its territories must now be represented by a registered patent practitioner — and, as we’ll see, even some U.S. citizens are caught by it.
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On Monday of last week, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a writ of certiorari to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s decision in RiseandShine Corporation v. PepsiCo, Inc. At the center of the case: whether trademark strength is a question of fact in a likelihood-of-confusion analysis under 15
As drag has risen in pop culture, trademark law has become an unlikely topic of conversation. Most recently, on May 27, Pattie Gonia, an internet-famous drag queen and environmental activist, urged her more than 1.8 million social-media followers to ask Patagonia to drop its lawsuit.
Patagonia is a California-based company that makes climbing apparel and
On October 17, 2025, USPTO Director John Squires issued a memorandum announcing that he would be sole decision-maker for institution of inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings. In this same memo, Squires stated those decisions would be determined “based on discretionary considerations.” In the time since, Squires has used a series of
In mCom IP, LLC v. City National Bank of Florida, the Federal Circuit reversed an award of attorneys’ fees under 35 U.S.C. § 285 against the patent owner and sanctions under 28 U.S.C. § 1927 against its counsel, holding that neither the patent owner’s decision to litigate patent claims surviving inter partes review (IPR)
A recent precedential Federal Circuit decision further clarifies the limited scope of judicial review over PTAB institution-related rulings, holding that refusal by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to resolve a disputed real-party-in-interest issue under 35 U.S.C. § 312(a)(2) is unreviewable on appeal. The April 29, 2026, decision in Federal Express Corporation v. Qualcomm Incorporated