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The Best April Fools' Day Non-Prank
On April 1, 2008, Judge James C. Cacheris of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia permanently enjoined rules promulgated by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ('USPTO'). News of the federal ruling spread like wildfire among the patent community, quickly leading to e-mails wondering whether the ruling was an elaborate April Fools' Day joke. It was not. Now there are concerns (or hopes) about the implications of the ruling on other USPTO proposed rules as well as the impact Patent Law Reform in Congress could have on the ruling.
The judgment addresses rules first proposed by the USPTO on Jan. 3, 2006 (the 'Proposed Rules') and published on Aug. 21, 2007 as 'Changes to Practice for Continued Examination Filings, Patent Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claims, and Examination of Claims in Patent Applications,' 72 Fed. Reg. 46,716-843 (the 'Final Rules'). The patent community responded to the Proposed Rules en masse, submitting hundreds of disapproving written comments. The rules were widely viewed with trepidation, with the patent community criticizing the rules for potentially increasing the cost of the patent process and shifting burdens of the patent examination process to the applicant, thereby unfairly limiting patents and patent claims.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.