What are year-end reflection for IP managers? As the year winds down, intellectual property managers have a unique opportunity to reflect on accomplishments and set the stage for success in the coming year. Inspired by the 12 Days of Christmas, here are twelve (12) meaningful tasks to consider as you wrap up the year. One...Read More
US Patent Office issues new guidelines for AI-assisted inventions. The new director of the USPTO was busy during the last week of November – busy upsetting the robots of the future. John Squires stated that the patent office considers generative AI systems to be “analogous to laboratory equipment, computer software, research databases, or any other...Read More
The fall of 2025 saw several significant changes and announcements at the USPTO, particularly in the areas of leadership shifts, Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration, new procedures, guidance on subject matter eligibility, proposed rules for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). However, the USPTO is changing the Performance Appraisal Plan (PAP). Overview of PAPs As...Read More
The USPTO has proposed changes to the examiners’ Performance Appraisal Plan (PAP) with effect on applicants and, to a lesser extent, their patent agents. Nobody is sure how to meet these changes, but we will review the system, the changes, and our suggestions over a few posts: PAP and counts — the mysterious way the...Read More
Imagine you are in court alone without a lawyer, making complex arguments on behalf of yourself and your co-inventor, as to why the patent office made a mistake in rejecting your patent application. Specifically that your invention is patent eligible. Everyone opposing you is a paid professional. It is not hard to see that the...Read More
Consider whether you should change your patent prosecution strategy. There are many changes at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. These include robot examiners, new acceleration programs, changes to the way the examiner corps is evaluated, and many other changes. However, a more subtle change is that the office is more likely not to...Read More
On 2025 October 27 the USPTO launched their Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program, which is a way to advance your applications out of turn for examination. This program offers a predictable way to accelerate the first office action while creating minimal file wrapper estoppel. This new program accelerates the start of prosecution for your applications...Read More
The USPTO launched the Automated Pre-Examination Search Pilot Program on 2025 October 20, as a first attempt at integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into the patent examination workflow. We are fans of AI and using pilot programs, but in this case, with one exception, we don’t recommend it. If you do want to try it, then...Read More
The Canadian Commissioner of Patents published a decision rejecting a patent application by an artificial intelligence system and naming the AI as an inventor. Keeping with established practice, the commissioner accepted the advice of members of the Patent Appeal Board that an artificial intelligence system cannot be named as an “inventor”. The applicant, Stephen L....Read More
Jack Dorsey, co-founder of what was Twitter, sparked debate by posting a simple statement: “delete all IP law”. Elon Musk, owner of X, quickly responded, “I agree”. Their terse, unpunctuated exchange has ignited discussions about intellectual property (IP) laws, particularly in the context of AI and copyright. Consider the implications for protecting your innovations. Background...Read More
