25 Jun’21

Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew: SCOTUS Preserves Inter Partes Review

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We last wrote about the Arthrex case back in November of 2019 and this blog is a continuation now that the case has finally reached a decision by the Supreme Court. In our previous blog, we described how the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that the appointment of the Patent […]

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28 Jul’20

USPTO v. Booking.com: Acquired Distinctiveness of a Generic Domain

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The Supreme Court (“Court”) in USPTO v. Booking.com resolved a dispute about whether a generic name can become eligible for federal trademark registration though the addition of an internet-domain-name suffix such as “.com.” The USPTO rejected applications by travel-reservation website Booking.com seeking federal registration of marks including the term “Booking.com.” The USPTO concluded that “Booking.com” […]

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26 Nov’19

Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew: Inter Partes Review and Unconstitutional Appointment of APJs

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On Halloween, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit delivered its opinion in Arthrex, Inc., v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. that the appointment of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s Administrative Patent Judges (“APJs”) violates the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The background of this case involved Arthrex receiving a final […]

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30 Jan’19

Carrots and Coins: The 2018 IP Valuation Year in Review:

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A lot has been written on the impact of the new leadership at the USPTO on the value of patents.  Since his appointment in early 2018, Director Andrei Iancu has managed to introduce new initiatives that increase transparency and uniformity in how the USPTO and the courts interpret patent claims and validity challenges, reforms that […]

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