Posts in IP News

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte brought together leaders from government, academia, industry, and the defense community for its 2026 Invention of the Year Awards, an evening that showcased the university’s growing role as a national engine of innovation, commercialization, and technological impact.

Whether or not the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) wants to admit it, over most of the last generation there has been a secret examination docket. Not surprisingly, such a secret examination docket is strictly prohibited by federal law. A newly filed joint status report in Morinville v. USPTO brings this issue to the fore and underscores the lack of transparency and accountability of secret internal patent review programs at the USPTO. Procedurally, the latest filing seeks to expose the USPTO shadow docket through a new round of discovery, which is currently being considered by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA v. Amarin Pharma, Inc., a case with broad implications for the generic industry’s practice of “skinny labeling” and the induced infringement standard for patent law and beyond. IPWatchdog reached out to members of the IP community for their initial takeaways from yesterday’s arguments.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision Wednesday in Federal Express Corporation v. Qualcomm Incorporated, vacating a determination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that certain claims of a Federal Express Corporation patent were unpatentable as obvious. The CAFC also held that it could not review the PTAB’s refusal to determine whether all real parties in interest were identified in the petition for inter partes review (IPR).

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The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments today in Hikma v. Amarin, a closely-watched case that in part asks the Justices to weigh in on whether a drugmaker calling its product a “generic version” while citing public sales information about the branded drug induces infringement of a patented use fully carved out by the generic’s label. Hikma’s petition also asks whether a complaint states an induced infringement claim if it fails to allege any instruction or statement by the defendant mentioning the patented use. While some Justices today questioned why the case was even before them, others seemed concerned about the potential impact of the case for the generic pharmaceutical industry.

Last week, Bloomberg Law broke the news that U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright of the Western District of Texas would leave the Western Texas bench by the end of this August. Nominated to the federal judiciary during the first Trump Administration, Judge Albright spent his relatively short time on the bench cutting a courageous pathway through patent law, which created some controversy in Congress, but notably has earned him a reputation of thoughtfulness and fairness in the application of patent law among plaintiff- and defendant-side lawyers arguing in his courtroom.

Harrity & Harrity is expanding and seeks experienced patent attorneys or agents who thrive in handling electrical or mechanical technology. You will draft and prosecute high-value applications for world-class innovators while working remotely (in the U.S.) within a close-knit, highly collaborative team. A solid foundation in semiconductors or 5G wireless is a welcome plus.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision today in Constellation Designs, LLC v. LG Electronics Inc., vacating in part and affirming in part a decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The CAFC determined that the district court incorrectly found the “optimization claims” of Constellation Designs, LLC’s patents directed to eligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101, but correctly found the “constellation claims” eligible.

Pharmaceutical patent litigators are no strangers to the delicate dance between the Hatch-Waxman Act and 35 U.S.C. § 271(b). On one side of this statutory tightrope lies the Hatch-Waxman Act’s Section VIII pathway, which was designed to expedite affordable generic competition by allowing manufacturers to seek Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval solely for unpatented indications—the proverbial “skinny label.” On the flip side lies Section 271(b), which imposes strict liability on anyone who “actively induces” patent infringement.

Eckert Seamans is seeking a full-time, permanent Patent Agent or Patent Attorney with an electrical engineering background for their Pittsburgh, PA office. They are a full-service national law firm with a strong reputation and history of success that spans more than 65 years. With approximately 300 lawyers across a network of 14 offices, they provide clients with proactive, solution-oriented business and litigation counsel.

The U.S. Supreme Court today denied certiorari in EscapeX IP, LLC v. Google LLC, letting stand a precedential decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirming a district court’s award of more than $250,000 in attorneys’ fees to Google and finding that EscapeX had pursued a “frivolous” patent infringement lawsuit against Google and its attorneys had acted recklessly in prolonging the litigation.  

A recent U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decision applying California trade secret law offers a timely reminder that published patent materials cannot easily be recast as trade secrets. In International Medical Devices, Inc. v. Cornell, the Federal Circuit reversed trade-secret liability and vacated related damages and injunctive relief after concluding that the plaintiffs had not shown protectable trade secrets under the California Uniform Trade Secrets Act.

Welcome back to Cool AI Patents of the Month, where we highlight innovations that blur the line between science fiction and real-world engineering. Last month, we looked at AI-generated voice replicas, particularly in sports broadcasting. That concept is no longer theoretical. Major League Baseball players have reportedly entered into agreements enabling the creation of AI-driven digital avatars, allowing fans to engage directly with AI-generated versions of their favorite players. The takeaway is clear: personality and likeness are being productized. What once seemed futuristic is quickly becoming commercially relevant.