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

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

Prof John Duffy Next USPTO General Counsel

Professor John Duffy (UVA) appears to be in line to take over as USPTO General Counsel. GC is the Director’s principal legal advisor and runs an office of about 130 lawyers that include the Office of ...
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 ...
Patently-O

Short of Disavowal: Narrowing ‘Provision’ and ‘Activate’ in Zilkr v. Cisco

Zilkr Cloud Technologies, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 2025-1207 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 26, 2026) (nonprecedential). Although the PTAB's claim construction in this case might have been "reasonable," the ...
Patently-O

A Year of Patent Cert Denials

Over the past twelve months, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in 36 cases raising patent questions. It granted one, Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. v. Amarin Pharma, Inc., 608 U.S. ___ (2026), which ...
Patently-O

Can Harassment Risk Alone Support Obviousness-Type Double Patenting?

With the USPTO's recent brief, In re Ablynx N.V., No. 2026-1333 (Fed. Cir.) is now teed up for the Federal Circuit to decide the nationwide policy on obviousness-type double patenting. The case ...
Patently-O

A Cleaner Test Case: Why Kahoot! Adds Fire to the Supreme Court’s Settled Expectations Docket

The USPTO’s “settled expectations” policy now has a second challenger at the Supreme Court. On July 24, 2026, Kahoot! AS filed a petition for certiorari (docket number pending) asking the Court to ...
Patently-O

A Double Shot at Copyright: SCOTUS to Weigh Worldwide Termination Rights

The Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether an act of Congress can reallocate ownership of foreign copyrights. In BMG Rights Management (US) LLC v. Vetter, No. 25-1391, four music publishing ...
Patently-O

Supreme Court Takes Up Whether Trademark Strength Belongs to Judge or Jury

As the 2025-2026 term ends, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether the strength of a trademark is a question of fact or a question of law. The Court granted certiorari in RiseandShine Corp. v.
Patently-O

Provisional Typo Spoils Priority Date

A seeming typo in Enanta’s provisional application left the resulting patent invalid. In Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Pfizer, Inc., No. 2025-1427 (Fed. Cir. June 23, 2026), the Federal Circuit ...