#USPTO

#USPTO

Nintendo's lawsuit against Palworld just hit a snag. The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has ordered a reexamination of a key Nintendo patent expected to be wielded in the case. Games Fray reports that the office is reviewing the Switch maker's patent regarding "summon subcharacter and let it fight in 1 of 2 modes." If we view Nintendo's Palworld lawsuit as a test bed for monopolizing game mechanics, the development can only be seen as a good thing.

The patent system was designed for individual inventors. Thomas Edison, the Wright brothers-these were lone entrepreneurs securing temporary monopoly rights in exchange for disclosing their inventions to the public. But sometime after World War II, corporations and universities completed a quiet takeover of the patent office. Today's patent landscape is dominated by patent oligarchs: systematic corporate R&D programs filing thousands of applications annually, not individuals pursuing personal innovation.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: news reports indicate that the Department of Justice's (DOJ's) Weaponization Working Group is looking into Biden-era secret review processes for pharmaceutical and AI patents at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO); the Federal Circuit corrects the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's (TTAB's) application of the DuPont factors with regards to the scope of similar goods and services; USPTO Director John Squires signals a commitment to patent eligibility for medical diagnostics and crypto patents in his first few

The Acting Director has discretionarily denied more than 60% of PTAB Petitions and referred about 40% to the PTAB, which found over 90% merit worthy.

The Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) has filed a charge against the USPTO regarding denied representation during discussions about employee policies, alleging violation of fair labor practices.

The new interim procedure bifurcates discretionary denial issues from merits and puts the determination of discretionary denial solely in the hands of the USPTO Director.