Other Barks & Bites for Friday, December 5: Tillis Blasts Lutnick Proposal on Government Share in Profits from Federally Funded Inventions; The Times Sues Perplexity AI; and USPTO Updates MPEP to Reflect Desjardins Decision

This week in Other Barks & Bites: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced it has updated the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure to reflect recent eligibility guidance; The New York Times has sued Perplexity AI for copyright and trademark infringement; AGs from seven U.S. states sent a letter to the College Sports Commission calling out its “cartoonishly villainous” university participation agreement; and more.

USPTO Reminds Examiners, Applicants to Consider and Use Eligibility Declarations Wisely

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today released two memos meant to provide additional guidance around the use of patent subject matter eligibility declarations (SMEDs) for examiners, applicants and practitioners, particularly with respect to “applied technologies” in areas like artificial intelligence and medical diagnostics. The memos do not alter existing procedures and are effective immediately.

Ninth Circuit Affirms Trademark Injunction Against OpenAI Company in Dispute Over Similar Marks

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a district court’s decision to grant a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a trademark dispute between two tech companies, IYO, Inc., and IO Products, Inc, which merged with OpenAI in May 2025. The order prevents IO, a company co-founded by Sam Altman and Jonathan Paul Ive, from using the IO mark in connection with products that are related to IYO’s AI-based “audio computer.”

SCOTUS Delays Trump Bid to Oust Perlmutter Pending Arguments in Similar Cases

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order deferring a decision in Trump v. Perlmutter, a case in which President Donald Trump is asking the Court to stay an interlocutory injunction issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in September that allowed Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter to return to her post pending her lawsuit against Trump for removing her from office.

Arnold & Porter is Seeking a Senior Manager of IP Administration

Arnold & Porter is an international law firm with 16 offices in the United States, Europe, and Asia that provides sophisticated regulatory, litigation, and transactional services across multiple industries. Arnold & Porter has an opening for a Senior Manager of IP Administration in the Washington, DC office. The Senior Manager of IP Administration oversees the firmwide IP Prosecution (Patent and Trademark) practice.

Current and Former Lawmakers Lock Horns in Comments on USPTO’s Proposed PTAB Changes

The deadline for comments on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) issued in October, titled “Revision to Rules of Practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board,” was yesterday, December 2. As of today, the Office has received 10,783 comments and has published just over 1,000 of them. The rules have been broadly welcomed by IP holders and practitioners, and broadly opposed by those who want to preserve the option to easily challenge patents. Below, we summarize several submissions from individuals and organizations on both sides.

IP Innovators: When Engineering Meets Law: Aaron Capron’s IP Odyssey

In the latest episode of IP Innovators, host Steve Brachmann speaks with Aaron Capron, partner and head of the Patent Office Practice at Finnegan, about how patent prosecution is evolving across AI, quantum computing, semiconductors, and other rapidly developing fields. Throughout the discussion, Capron consistently returns to themes that resonate deeply with experienced patent practitioners: the importance of thinking like an examiner, the need for robust infrastructure to manage complex portfolios, and the reality that legal technology—especially AI—requires thoughtful integration, not simple adoption.

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