Patent Law Weblog
recent posts
- Apple v. Squires: USPTO Director Has Unlimited Discretion on IPR Institution
- The Ghost in the Machine: Why GenAI Can Be Both a Brilliant Researcher and a Terrible Advocate
- Bayer Files Suit Against Trio of COVID-19 Vaccine Makers
- Allen v. Cooper (4th Cir. 2026)
- To Require an Inventor ID, or Not to Require an Inventor ID – That Is the Question
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Category: Patent Prosecution
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week, both The Washington Post and Nature News reported on the efforts of biotech companies to secure patents directed to gene-altered crops that are designed to withstand the effects of global warming. The impetus behind both articles was a 30-page report entitled "Patenting the ‘Climate Genes’ . .…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — As reported by Patent Docs on April 30th, Jon Dudas (at right), Undersecretary of Commerce and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, has a message for the public (and Congress, and the courts and particularly the patent community): one of the problems that ails the Patent…
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By Donald Zuhn — On Wednesday, Pfizer announced that it had received a Notice of Intent to Issue an Ex Parte Reexamination Certificate for U.S. Patent No. 4,681,893 from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The ‘893 patent, which expires in March 2010, is directed in part to atorvastatin, the active ingredient in…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week, StemCells, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had issued Notices of Intent to Issue Ex Parte Reexamination Certificates with respect to the Palo Alto-based biotech company’s U.S. Patent Nos. 5,851,832 and 6,497,872. The ‘832 patent, entitled "In vitro growth and proliferation of multipotent neural…
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By Jason Derry — Claim drafting is somewhat of an art that takes time and practice to learn. Practitioners typically develop various styles and formats over time. One of the best ways to assist in developing good claim drafting skills is to be mindful of the types of claims that are being issued…
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By Donald Zuhn — StemCellPatents.com has announced the launch of a newly redesigned stem cell patent database. A beta version of the database was launched in November 2006. The stem cell patent database will extend the site’s other offerings, which include online news, a weekly e-mail newsletter, the SCP Journal, and a jobs…
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By Donald Zuhn — USPTO Examiners, a website that bills itself as a place to "examine the examiners," recently opened its (virtual) doors for business. While the site’s creator (or creators) have yet to be identified, the same may no longer be true for some examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. …
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The two remaining ex parte re-examinations (35 U.S.C. § 302-307) of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) stem cell patents — Control No. 90/008102 for U.S. Patent No. 5,843,780 (claiming primate embryonic stem (pES) cells) and Control No. 90/008139 for U.S. Patent No. 6,200,806 (claiming human embryonic stem cell…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rendered its final decision on Monday in one of the re-examinations of the Thomson stem cell patents provoked by two groups: the Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT), headed by Dan Ravicher, and The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR), a California taxpayer…
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By Donald Zuhn — On December 21, 2007, Illumina, Inc. announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had ordered the reexamination of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,355,432; 6,646,243; 5,545,531; and 5,795,716. The patents ordered into reexamination constitute four of the five patents that Affymetrix, Inc. asserted against Illumina in an infringement action filed…
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