Patently-O

One Determination, Two Clocks: Crocs Asks the Supreme Court to Fix ITC Appeal Deadlines

Crocs asks the Supreme Court whether one ITC determination can start two appeal clocks after the Federal Circuit dismissed ...
Patently-O

FY2026 Patent Data Update: Grants, Publications, and Cross-Border Inventors

Final FY2026 numbers: 315,825 utility grants, continuing applications at 26% of grants, US-origin share at 39%, published applications down 6%, and cross-border inventor teams on a record 10.7% of ...
Patently-O

Who Owns Mind Reading?

Back in May 2023 I wrote a short post about the University of Texas study that used a GPT-style language model to reconstruct the gist of stories from fMRI scans (An API for the Human Mind, May 6, ...
Patently-O

Should Abandoned Applications Be Presumed Enabling? Supreme Court Asks for Response

The Supreme Court has called for a response in Agilent Technologies, Inc. v. Synthego Corp., No. 25-570, a petition that challenges foundational assumptions about the use of prior art references. The ...
Patently-O

NO FAKES Act: Unpacking the New Bipartisan Bill on Digital Replicas

Senators aim to rein in digital replicas with the “NO FAKES” Act which proposes a limited federal right to control one’s likeness using some DMCA-like notice-and-takedown elements. Guest post by ...
Patently-O

The Federal Circuit’s Antisuit Injunction Decision in Ericsson v. Lenovo has Broader Implications for Global SEP Litigation

The case stems from the dispute between Ericsson and Lenovo over licenses to their respective portfolios of patents essential to the 5G wireless telecommunications standards (standards-essential ...
Patently-O

SAP’s Mandamus Petition Challenging Trump Admin’s Discretionary Denial Policy Shift

This post digs into the pending mandamus action In re SAP. In the case, SAP raises a constitutional challenge to Director Stewart's aggressive discretionary denial approach -- as a violation of both ...
Patently-O

The Team-Based Reality of Modern Innovation: Average Patent Now Lists More Than Three Inventors

New data from the USPTO shows that the amazing transformation in patent inventorship continues: the average number of inventors per utility patent has reached 3.2 in 2024, nearly double the 1.7 ...
Patently-O

USPTO’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Policy: The Quiet Death of Thaler and the Legal Fiction of Human Inventorship

The Federal Circuit’s 2022 decision in Thaler v. Vidal seemed to settle a fundamental question: only natural persons can be inventors under U.S. patent law. But, the bigger near-term question has ...
Patently-O

Director Squires Takes Aim § 101 Rejections

In a striking early display of directorial authority, newly sworn-in Under Secretary of Commerce and USPTO Director John Squires has vacated a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision that had ...
Patently-O

The Federal Circuit Edits Its Damages Footnote in Constellation Designs v. LG

The “optimization” claims of US8842761 and US10693700 are ineligible under § 101; The “constellation” claims of US11019509 and US11018922 are eligible; The infringement verdict stands (denial of JMOL ...