"Some years, the comments vary greatly depending on respondents' practice or perspective. Other years, there are clear winners for what mattered most that year, and 2025 fits this bill. With a few outliers for big trademark moments, the comments below almost exclusively highlight U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director John Squires' and Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart's aggressive approach to reining in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings and the various court decisions on artificial intelligence (AI) and copyright that have come down."
"One of the most consequential IP developments of 2025 has been Director Squires reclaiming PTAB institution authority, meaning he now personally decides whether the PTAB will institute AIA trials. For years, that power rested with PTAB panels of administrative patent judges. By pulling it back into the Director's office, he shifted the balance of power in post-grant practice and transformed institution from an adjudicatory determination into an explicit policy choice."
2025 was a year of recalibration in intellectual property, with management, challenges, and enforcement evolving despite stagnant patent law reform in Congress. USPTO Director John Squires reclaimed PTAB institution authority and now personally decides whether to institute AIA trials, shifting decisionmaking from PTAB panels to the Director's office. Initial reviews produced summary denials of most IPR petitions, and limited institutions followed industry pushback, producing measurable reductions in post-grant challenges. Concurrently, courts issued multiple decisions on artificial intelligence and copyright that affected authorship, training data use, and fair-use analysis. Trademark developments were less dominant but notable, and these changes will continue to affect IP practice.
Read at IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law
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