Posts in IP News

At a recent Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter noted that Congress may need to overturn this year’s unanimous decision in the Cox v. Sony Supreme Court case or create a new “site blocking” regime to force internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to certain internet sites. The only problem? To put it bluntly, she is wrong.

On Monday, an arbitrator issued an order finding that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) violated federal labor law when it eliminated routine and remote telework for non-Patents bargaining unit employees represented by the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) without first engaging in impact and implementation bargaining.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Tuesday reversed and remanded two Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that had found Google’s patents for improvements to “hotword” detection unpatentable. The opinion was authored by CAFC Chief Judge Moore. “Hotwords” are phrases like “Hey Siri” and “OK Computer” that are used to activate voice assistants. Google’s U.S. patents 10,134,398 and 10,593,330 are directed to improvements that “address the problem of triggering multiple devices with a single hotword” by suppressing the reaction in other devices while the intended device reacts.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a decision today in In re Zhengxu He, affirming a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision upholding an examiner’s rejection of claims 1-22 of U.S. Patent Application No. 16/997,933 for obviousness. The CAFC exercised jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Section 1295(a)(4)(A) and found that substantial evidence supported the Board’s conclusion that the claims would have been obvious based on a combination of two prior art references.

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision in Ollnova Technologies Ltd. v. ecobee Technologies ULC vacating judgments entered by the Eastern District of Texas and remanding to determine patent-eligibility issues under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The Federal Circuit remanded primarily due to the district court’s erroneous jury instructions regarding the subject matter eligibility test under Alice, and dismissed ecobee’s patentability challenge to Ollnova’s patents directed to building automation systems (BAS) that address technical challenges present in wireless networks.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision Friday in Hafeman v. Google LLC affirming Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) final written decisions (FWDs) invalidating all claims of three related patents owned by inventor Carolyn Hafeman.  The court also dismissed Hafeman’s argument that the inter partes reviews (IPRs) should have been terminated based on the district court’s finding that LG–a real party in interest to the IPRs–violated its Sotera stipulation.

This Week in Other Barks & Bites: the Seventh Circuit remands a Schedule A trademark case to determine whether the Hague Convention’s terms on proper service apply to particular Chinese defendants; President Donald Trump criticizes the automotive industry’s alleged efforts to impede consumer choice on auto repairs; he Eleventh Circuit finds no valid copyright termination notice sent in a case involving members of 2 Live Crew; and more.

Harrity & Harrity, LLP is looking for remote (within the U.S.) or local patent professional superstars to prosecute 5G patent applications for leading global technology companies, including numerous Patent 300® companies.

At approximately the same moment that the U.S. Supreme Court handed down today’s landmark ruling in Hikma v. Amarin, the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet began a hearing on balancing medical innovation and access to generic drugs. Much of the hearing’s discussion was focused on proposed patent bills that favor generic drug makers–though whether they would ensure that Americans actually pay less for any drug, branded or otherwise, remains unclear.

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued its decision in Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA v. Amarin Pharma, Inc., holding that Amarin failed to “plausibly allege” that Hikma actively induced infringement of its “icosapent ethyl” product,  marketed as Vascepa. The decision, which was originally seen as a so-called skinny label case applying narrowly to the pharmaceutical industry and Hatch-Waxman litigation, scolded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) for its recent approach and has potentially far-reaching implications for the induced infringement standard across sectors.

The New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA) this week filed a reply brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Judge Pauline Newman. The reply brief responded directly to the opposition brief filed by the Solicitor General, representing the Judicial Council of the Federal Circuit, on May 12, which urged the Court to deny review of Newman’s petition.

On April 30, 2026, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John A. Squires issued an updated memorandum on Best Practices for Submission of Rule 132 Subject Matter Eligibility Declarations (SMEDs), “superseding” the December 4, 2025, memos that launched the current iteration of the SMED program. While the April 30 memo introduces no substantive changes to the underlying framework — the principles of the original SMED Examiner Memo, the relevant Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) provisions, and the Alice/Mayo two-step analysis all remain — the update matters to practitioners for at least two reasons: it confirms that SMEDs are actually working, and it signals that the Office intends to refine the guidance over time as practitioners gain more experience with the tool.

ArentFox Schiff LLP is seeking a patent attorney or patent agent with five or more years of experience to join the firm’s Intellectual Property practice in San Francisco. The successful candidate will draft and prosecute U.S. and worldwide patent applications in a client-facing role that requires direct engagement with inventors and scientists. For attorney candidates, this is a non-partnership track position. A bachelor’s degree or higher in Electrical Engineering, Patent Bar registration, and demonstrated expertise in wireless telecommunications — including 5G/6G and WiFi — are required. Strong written, oral, and organizational skills are essential. Current experience preparing patent applications for Qualcomm is highly preferred, and additional experience in areas such as power devices, analog circuits, medical devices, software, mechanical devices, or 3D printing is a plus.

America’s $150 billion per year private sector investment in biopharmaceutical research and development (R&D) does more than offer comfort. Increasingly, American innovators are curing or effectively eliminating the medical threat from many diseases and conditions. Witness, cures for Hepatitis C, GLP-1s for weight loss, COVID-19 vaccines, and HIV prevention at virtually 100% effectiveness, alongside stem cell therapies, gene editing, and CAR-T therapies for previously untreatable cancers. For those suffering from rare or untreatable disease, as well as chronic conditions, this is an era of unprecedented hope.