The author plaintiffs in the high-profile case against AI company, Anthropic, filed a “Supplemental Brief in Support of Motion for Preliminary Approval of Class Settlement” on Monday with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The filing addressed outstanding issues following the Court’s initial preliminary approval hearing on September 8, including the plan of distribution.

In a spirited discussion at our annual Women’s IP Forum, attendees were treated to an insightful fireside-style chat conversation with the Honorable Judge Pauline Newman, a trailblazer for women in law and a luminary in the field of intellectual property. Judge Newman spoke with Renee C. Quinn, Chief Operating Officer of IPWatchdog, Inc. Her career has been marked by a commitment to innovation and the advancement of strong intellectual property rights, shaping the very foundation of modern patent law. But did you know that Judge Newman was until a few years ago an active and licensed pilot? Did you know that she tutored singer/ songwriter legend Joan Baez in chemistry when Baez was in high school? While so much of Judge Newman’s life has been well documented, there are so many layers to her extraordinary life.

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision in Bayer Pharma Aktiengesellschaft v. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. affirming-in-part a final written decision by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating Bayer’s patent claims for methods of reducing the risk of cardiovascular events in patients. The Federal Circuit nixed Bayer’s arguments that the claim term “clinically proven effective” requires proof of clinical efficacy, although the appellate court did agree that the PTAB erred in construing a different claim term, vacating and remanding the Board’s decision with respect to some of Bayer’s claims.

In the final keynote address of IPWatchdog’s three-day 2025 Women’s IP Forum, the Honorable Kathleen O’Malley, former Circuit Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, offered insights into her distinguished career, the evolving patent law, and critical advice for emerging intellectual property attorneys.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) Judge Pauline Newman has filed a petition for rehearing en banc with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which in August affirmed a district court’s dismissal of her case against CAFC Chief Judge Kimberly Moore for suspending her from judicial duties. Despite the loss, the D.C. Circuit’s opinion noted that “Judge Newman has posed important and serious questions about whether these Judicial Conduct and Disability Act proceedings comport with constitutional due process principles and whether her ongoing suspension comports with the structure of our Constitution.”

Subject matter eligibility has been the most confounding and unpredictable issue in patent law since the Alice decision issued in 2014, especially for inventions involving the computer arts. Of course, computers are now ubiquitous and are involved in the implementation of not just electronics, but also mechanical devices, drug administration, and so on. The Alice decision touches many different types of inventions.

Last week, a petition for writ of certiorari filed by patent owner Lynk Labs was docketed at the U.S. Supreme Court. Lynk Labs is challenging rulings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) regarding the scope of invalidating prior art that can be asserted in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Lynk Labs argues that the patent application supplying part of the PTAB’s obviousness determination was improperly treated as a printed publication despite remaining unpublished until after the critical date of Lynk Labs’ challenged patent claims.

Disney Enterprises and 11 other plaintiffs filed a complaint last week against Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) image and video generator MiniMax in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The complaint alleged direct and secondary copyright infringement by operating a commercial AI service that “pirates and plunders Plaintiffs’ copyrighted works on a massive scale. MiniMax markets Hailuo AI as a ‘Hollywood studio in your pocket.’”

The ongoing policy debate about pharmaceutical and biologic patents has been coopted by those who don’t like patents—including those who have a financial incentive not to like patents. These paid mercenaries concoct and then disseminate fraudulent “reports”, which have become the lifeblood for patent critics. Even when the inaccuracies and lies are clearly identified, the cacophony of patent haters drowns out the truth thanks to a complicit, ideologically aligned popular press that continues to cite and rely on fabricated “findings” that couldn’t stand up to the scrutiny of your average fifth grader.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: John Squires was officially confirmed as the next Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office following a series of moves by Senate Republicans to confirm Executive Branch nominees advanced by President Donald Trump in a bloc vote; the Second Circuit affirms a district court’s ruling that former U.S. Representative George Santos’ copyright infringement claims against Jimmy Kimmel are barred by fair use; and more.

As we reported he would be yesterday, John Squires today was officially confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the next Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as part of an en bloc vote on 48 pending Trump nominees. The confirmations were made by a vote of 51-47.

Following a split decision on September 10 that temporarily restored Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter to her role, the Trump Administration has filed a petition for rehearing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit calling the court’s ruling an “extraordinary step”. The September 10 decision said that “the district court abused its discretion by failing to consider ‘unusual actions relating to the discharge itself’ and a ‘genuinely extraordinary situation’— factors that inform the irreparable-harm analysis and distinguish this case from other removal cases.”

On Wednesday morning, the U.S. Senate held a series of votes that teed up the confirmation vote for John Squires to serve as Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), along with 47 other Trump Administration nominees, as part of Senate Republicans’ exercise of the “nuclear option” for confirmations recently approved by Senate rulemaking. Squires will take the helm of the USPTO following months of largely patent-friendly PTAB reforms established by Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart, creating optimism that has recently been undercut by reported efforts to create fee frameworks based on patent valuation.

Recent cases involving design patents on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) highlight significant developments and issues. There have been five decisions in 2025 and several more are anticipated. They address infringement, invalidity, estoppel, priority and Section 337’s Domestic Industry requirement. There is also developing jurisprudence on prior art for design patent infringement, as well as questions such as when are two designs plainly dissimilar, making their way through the courts.  

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed, I had the pleasure of speaking with Daren Tang, Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Our conversation spanned a range of topics, from the future of intellectual property (IP), to how intellectual property has been a force for helping humanity, to WIPO’s strategic initiatives and the burgeoning impact of artificial intelligence (AI). A central theme of our conversation was Tang’s fervent advocacy for intellectual property as a catalyst for global innovation and betterment of the human condition.