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Categorical Rules Cut Both Ways: Originalist Equity, NPE Status, and the Symmetry of e Bay's Four-Factor Test
2+ day, 8+ hour ago (19+ words) Judge Gilstrap denies Collision's injunction against Samsung yet adopts the USPTO's NPE framework, rejecting categorical rules in both directions....
Inter Partes Review in 2026
9+ hour, 6+ min ago (252+ words) America's leading patent law source The chart above tracks IPR petitions filed by month from 2015 through May 2026. For most of that decade, filings hovered in a band between 100 and 185 per month, with a long-run trend line sloping gently downward. Then…...
Williamson Found Its Mark: New Data on Functional Claim Language, 1976-2026
4+ day, 23+ hour ago (172+ words) America's leading patent law source The headline updates from 2014 are dramatic but unsurprising. "Configured to/for" now appears in almost 50% of utility patents issued. It overtook "means for" around 2008-2009 and surpassed the "for [Verb]ing" construction in 2014. Traditional means-plus-function language…...
Justice Up Close: The Federal Circuit Opens Its Doors for America 250
6+ day, 4+ hour ago (295+ words) America's leading patent law source I was out in the woods this past weekend staffing an MKP retreat and so missed the Federal Circuit's annual'Judiciary Conference.' But, the highlight was almost certainly the debut of the Federal Circuit's first (and…...
After LKQ: The Boilerplate Changed; The Rejection Rate Did Not
1+ week, 6+ day ago (164+ words) America's leading patent law source What replaced the old framework were a set of post-LKQ phrases: "visually similar" (0% " 90%) and "overall appearance" (40% " 75%) now dominate. Oddly, LKQ itself rarely cited (only 4% of rejections) and KSR is at 0%. Almost 90% of post-LKQ "103 rejections cite…...
Micro-Entity Traps for Inventors Who Also Own Their Employer
1+ week, 5+ day ago (114+ words) America's leading patent law source To continue reading, become a Patently-O member. Already a member? Simply log in to access the full post. Law Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. View all posts by Dennis Crouch " Free…...
Remains Disabled: How a Firmware Rewrite Defeated Bissell's ITC Exclusion Order
1+ week, 5+ day ago (217+ words) America's leading patent law source When a patent holder wins a Section 337 investigation at the International Trade Commission, the victory comes with a caveat: a limited exclusion order bars the specific infringing products, not whatever the respondent ships next. A…...
Prior Art Rejection Rates in Design Patent Prosecution
1+ week, 6+ day ago (114+ words) America's leading patent law source To continue reading, become a Patently-O member. Already a member? Simply log in to access the full post. Law Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. View all posts by Dennis Crouch " Free…...
Almost "About" 7. 6: When a Specification Speaks Out of Both Sides
2+ week, 6+ day ago (114+ words) America's leading patent law source To continue reading, become a Patently-O member. Already a member? Simply log in to access the full post. Law Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. View all posts by Dennis Crouch " Free…...
Decimation: Ex Parte Reexamination Eclipses the IPR
3+ week, 1+ day ago (114+ words) America's leading patent law source To continue reading, become a Patently-O member. Already a member? Simply log in to access the full post. Law Professor at the University of Missouri School of Law. View all posts by Dennis Crouch " Free…...