Read the latest update on how examiners sometimes improperly use restrictions to generate 112 written description rejections.

Silence is not disclosure of a negative limitation, but what about disclosing a feature as optional?

Law of the Case at the PTAB – if you are appealing the same case to the board multiple times, do not lose before you get started.

Is it necessarily obvious (or even disclosed) that every prior art reference cited in an application (e.g., in the Background) can be (or is) combined with the invention described in that application? Read about a recent case on this very issue.

Read about how to potentially introduce new evidence in your PTAB appeal brief without obtaining approval from the examiner.

In the common law, res judicata (the thing that was decided) applies to a situation where a final judgement has been made, yet a party is trying to re-litigate the same case. Res judicata maintains the previous judgement and avoids repetition, thus preserving the effect of the first judgment. Res judicata is also applicable in…

It is always interesting to read the prosecution history of a case where the inventor is a patent attorney, and especially where the inventor is the applicant as well. Today we have an example where the attorney is the inventor, applicant, and further practicing at a large law firm. If the examiner thought that they…

Read about a case where the USPTO finds fault with an expert declaration because it allegedly has the wrong verb tense.

Be careful with loose language in your arguments that might enable the PTAB to affirm in a way that side steps important issues.

More on 101 “experts” at the USPTO