#USPTO

#USPTO

The Federal Circuit heard oral argument today in Apple Inc. v. Squires, 24-1864, a long-running challenge to the USPTO's Fintiv discretionary denial framework. Apple, Cisco, Google, and Intel argue that the NHK-Fintiv rule should have been adopted through notice-and-comment rulemaking under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) rather than through precedential Board designations.

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.

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.