IPWatchdog.com | Patents & Intellectual Property Law

IPWatchdog Patent Masters Urge Stakeholders to Unite for Change in the Next Cycle of U.S. Patent Reform

Eileen McDermott — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 18:55:59 +0000

IPWatchdog’s 2026 Patent Masters Program kicked off Monday with discussions on the state of the international patent landscape and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in creating efficiency gains in patent prosecution and portfolio building, before moving into conversations on Tuesday and Wednesday about monetization, ex parte appeal strategies and how to shape the future of the U.S patent system, among other topics.

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The Register of Copyrights Is Wrong About Cox v. Sony

Josh Bercu — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 12:15:23 +0000

At a recent Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, Register of Copyrights Shira Perlmutter noted that Congress may need to overturn this year’s unanimous decision in the Cox v. Sony Supreme Court case or create a new “site blocking” regime to force internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to certain internet sites. The only problem? To put it bluntly, she is wrong.

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Arbitrator Rules USPTO Violated Federal Labor Law by Eliminating Non-Patents Employee Telework Without Bargaining

Rose Esfandiari — Wed, 10 Jun 2026 11:15:37 +0000

On Monday, an arbitrator issued an order finding that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) violated federal labor law when it eliminated routine and remote telework for non-Patents bargaining unit employees represented by the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) without first engaging in impact and implementation bargaining.

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Federal Circuit Reverses PTAB Findings of Unpatentability for Google’s ‘Hotword’ Patents

Eileen McDermott — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 21:22:47 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Tuesday reversed and remanded two Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that had found Google’s patents for improvements to “hotword” detection unpatentable. The opinion was authored by CAFC Chief Judge Moore. “Hotwords” are phrases like “Hey Siri” and “OK Computer” that are used to activate voice assistants. Google’s U.S. patents 10,134,398 and 10,593,330 are directed to improvements that “address the problem of triggering multiple devices with a single hotword” by suppressing the reaction in other devices while the intended device reacts.

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The AI Arms Race Runs Through the Patent System | IPWatchdog Unleashed

Gene Quinn — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:15:54 +0000

This week on IPWatchdog Unleashed, I spoke with Rama Elluru, a former PTAB Judge turned national security policy advisor. We explore the accelerating intersection of AI, patent law, and national competitiveness, as well as the hard questions policymakers will soon face around AI-assisted inventorship, patent eligibility, drug discovery, scientific research, and whether existing legal frameworks can keep pace with technologies that are advancing far faster than Congress, agencies, and courts typically move. We also address the broader national security implications of intellectual property policy, AI-enabled fraud, workforce disruption, the need for guardrails and meaningful penalties for malicious uses of AI, and why IP must be understood as a core pillar of economic and national security strategy.

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Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB Obviousness Rejection of Automated Kitchen System Patent Application

Rose Esfandiari — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 16:15:31 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a decision today in In re Zhengxu He, affirming a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision upholding an examiner’s rejection of claims 1-22 of U.S. Patent Application No. 16/997,933 for obviousness. The CAFC exercised jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. Section 1295(a)(4)(A) and found that substantial evidence supported the Board’s conclusion that the claims would have been obvious based on a combination of two prior art references.

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CAFC Reverses EDTX Infringement and Damages Rulings, Upholds Denial of JMOL on Section 101

Steve Brachmann — Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:15:22 +0000

Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision in Ollnova Technologies Ltd. v. ecobee Technologies ULC vacating judgments entered by the Eastern District of Texas and remanding to determine patent-eligibility issues under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The Federal Circuit remanded primarily due to the district court’s erroneous jury instructions regarding the subject matter eligibility test under Alice, and dismissed ecobee’s patentability challenge to Ollnova’s patents directed to building automation systems (BAS) that address technical challenges present in wireless networks.

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Patents Don’t Monetize Themselves: Turning Portfolios from Cost Centers into Revenue Assets

Gene Quinn — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 17:32:34 +0000

Imagine a company spends millions of dollars constructing a new office building in a prime downtown location. The company pays for maintenance, utilities, insurance, landscaping, repairs, security, and taxes. The building is well designed, professionally managed, and expensive to maintain. But it sits empty. No tenants. No leases. No revenue. That would strike most executives as irrational. Yet many companies treat patent portfolios in exactly the same way. They spend millions building and maintaining patent portfolios around the world. But when asked what revenue the portfolio generates, the silence is deafening.

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Automating the Patent Process at the USPTO to Save Inventors Money

John Powers — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 15:15:25 +0000

Have you ever drafted a claim set with a second claim that began, “the system of claim 2, wherein…” when you meant to write “the system of claim 1”? It’s embarrassing because every first-year patent attorney knows that a dependent patent claim cannot depend on itself. However, making the error is inevitable when you draft a large number of patent applications. The good news is, if you upload such a claim to today’s Patent Center (where patent applications are filed), you will be provided with the following alert: “The claims appear to contain an improper dependency with at least one claim that depends on a missing or canceled claim. Please review and revise if necessary”. How beautiful is this? Now you can self-correct before your patent application is even filed. Ten years ago, you would have to go back and forth with a patent examiner to correct the error.

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CAFC Rejects Inventor’s Sotera Stipulation Challenge against LG, Affirms Google and Microsoft Win at PTAB

Rose Esfandiari — Mon, 08 Jun 2026 13:53:45 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential decision Friday in Hafeman v. Google LLC affirming Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) final written decisions (FWDs) invalidating all claims of three related patents owned by inventor Carolyn Hafeman. The court also dismissed Hafeman's argument that the inter partes reviews (IPRs) should have been terminated based on the district court’s finding that LG--a real party in interest to the IPRs--violated its Sotera stipulation.

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Readers React: What to Expect After the Supreme Court’s Hikma Ruling

Eileen McDermott — Sun, 07 Jun 2026 16:15:53 +0000

Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling in Hikma v. Amarin has been discussed as a definitive win for the generics industry and may have implications beyond pharmaceutical and Hatch-Waxman cases. The Court criticized the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) for its trend of what the Court called focusing on “whether the relevant statements could be read by medical providers as instructions to infringe” when judging induced infringement in Hatch-Waxman cases. Below, stakeholders weigh in on the upshot of the ruling and what it means for pharmaceutical innovation going forward.

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Other Barks & Bites for Friday, June 5: Trump Auto Industry Comments Bolster REPAIR Act; House IP Subcommittee Debates Generics Legislation Following Hikma; and X Seeks Modification of FTC Order on Account Security

Steve Brachmann — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 16:41:18 +0000

This Week in Other Barks & Bites: the Seventh Circuit remands a Schedule A trademark case to determine whether the Hague Convention’s terms on proper service apply to particular Chinese defendants; President Donald Trump criticizes the automotive industry’s alleged efforts to impede consumer choice on auto repairs; he Eleventh Circuit finds no valid copyright termination notice sent in a case involving members of 2 Live Crew; and more.

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Harrity & Harrity is Seeking a Patent Prosecution Attorney/Agent for 5G/6G

JobOrtunities Help Wanted — Fri, 05 Jun 2026 09:15:06 +0000

Harrity & Harrity, LLP is looking for remote (within the U.S.) or local patent professional superstars to prosecute 5G patent applications for leading global technology companies, including numerous Patent 300® companies.

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Hikma Ruling Looms Large in House IP Subcommittee Hearing Debating Legislation Favoring Generic Drugmakers

Steve Brachmann — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 22:07:03 +0000

At approximately the same moment that the U.S. Supreme Court handed down today’s landmark ruling in Hikma v. Amarin, the House Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet began a hearing on balancing medical innovation and access to generic drugs. Much of the hearing’s discussion was focused on proposed patent bills that favor generic drug makers--though whether they would ensure that Americans actually pay less for any drug, branded or otherwise, remains unclear.

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SCOTUS’ Hikma Ruling Changes the Game for Induced Infringement Pleadings

Eileen McDermott — Thu, 04 Jun 2026 17:40:49 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court today issued its decision in Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA v. Amarin Pharma, Inc., holding that Amarin failed to “plausibly allege” that Hikma actively induced infringement of its “icosapent ethyl” product, marketed as Vascepa. The decision, which was originally seen as a so-called skinny label case applying narrowly to the pharmaceutical industry and Hatch-Waxman litigation, scolded the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) for its recent approach and has potentially far-reaching implications for the induced infringement standard across sectors.

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