On Sept. 29, the USPTO issued another memorandum as well as a new flowchart addressing applicant “subject matter eligibility declarations” (SMEDs) submitted to establish eligibility under Section 101. This is now the third time the office has issued guidance on SMEDs in less than a year, which itself seems to highlight their importance to office
In VDPP v. Volkswagen, the Federal Circuit made short work of rejecting VDPP’s argument that settlement licenses are somehow different from ordinary licenses for marking purposes. Following up on Seeing More Clearly: Patent Marking Compliance in the Wake of VDPP v. Volkswagen, this post turns to a question that has been percolating
Is a pop star’s voice a trademark? Taylor Swift’s legal team is betting yes. On April 24, 2026, she filed three applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seeking federal registration of two sound marks and one image mark: the spoken phrases “Hey, it’s Taylor Swift” (Serial No. 99784980) and
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 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)
Elon Musk’s year of controversy continues as startup Operation Bluebird attempts to take flight with its rival social media platform — “twitter.new” — by asking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to find that Musk’s X Corp. has abandoned its “Twitter” and “tweet” trademarks. X Corp. responded to this petition on December 16 by
In today’s crowded tech marketplace, brand identity is one of a company’s most valuable assets. A well-chosen trademark doesn’t just help consumers recognize your business – it also provides legal protection against copycats and builds long-term brand equity. When product lifecycles move quickly and competition is global, developing and protecting strong trademarks should be an
On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Vidal v. Elster, a case that pitted trademark law against the First Amendment’s free speech protections. While the Court unanimously upheld the Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) refusal to register a contentious mark, the justices’ concurring opinions reveal sharp divisions over the
Recently, Melissa Jefferson, known professionally as Lizzo, took on the USPTO in a battle to establish trademark rights to a popular lyric from her 2017, Billboard-topping song Truth Hurts. The phrase, “100% That B—h”, which Lizzo admitted was inspired by a tweet, was recently the subject of several lawsuits concerning the authorship of the work
Last week, in Personalized Media Communications, LLC v. Apple, Inc., the Federal Circuit left intact Judge Rodney Gilstrap’s ruling of unenforceability based on prosecution laches and deprived Personalized Media Communications, LLC — a nonpracticing entity — of a paycheck from Apple. At a high level, PMC appealed a final judgment of the U.S. District