Here is a report on recent news and commentary related to the Federal Circuit and its cases. Today we highlight:
- a report covering how the Federal Circuit “agreed on Tuesday to allow President Trump to maintain many of his tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners, extending a pause granted shortly after another panel of judges ruled in late May that the import taxes were illegal”;
- an article describing how “President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed a favorable decision by [the Federal Circuit] over his sweeping tariff policy as a ‘great’ win for the United States”;
- a piece addressing how “[t]he typically apolitical and staid US Patent and Trademark Office has been swept up in the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce”;
- a blog post discussing how “[t]he Trump Administration’s nominee for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director, John Squires, has submitted written responses for the record following his May 21 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee”; and
- an article highlighting how “[t]he acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director’s decision on Friday to reject patent challenges due to the petitioner’s longstanding knowledge of a patent has many attorneys bracing for either a massive rise or dip in Patent Trial and Appeal Board filings.”
Tony Romm published a report with the New York Times covering how the Federal Circuit “agreed on Tuesday to allow President Trump to maintain many of his tariffs on China and other U.S. trading partners, extending a pause granted shortly after another panel of judges ruled in late May that the import taxes were illegal.” Romm said this decision “delivered an important but interim victory for the Trump administration, which had warned that any interruption to its steep duties could undercut the president in talks around the world.” For more on the case, see V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump.
Paul Wiseman and Darlene Superville posted an article with the Associated Press describing how “President Donald Trump on Wednesday hailed a favorable decision” by the Federal Circuit “over his sweeping tariff policy as a ‘great’ win for the United States.” Wiseman and Superville observed how “Trump said on his social media site” that the Federal Circuit’s decision “means the U.S. ‘can use TARIFFS to protect itself against other countries,'” in “[a] great and important win for the U.S.” For more on the case, see V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump.
Aruni Soni published a piece with Bloomberg Law addressing how “[t]he typically apolitical and staid US Patent and Trademark Office has been swept up in the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the federal workforce.” Soni explained how “[m]andates on slimming down the workforce and returning federal employees to offices surprised many PTO employees because the agency has offered remote work for nearly three decades and is funded by user fees.” According to Soni, the result is that “[m]orale is ‘horrible,’ ‘in the toilet,’ and the lowest in decades, according to interviews with 16 current and former employees.”
Eileen McDermott and Gene Quinn penned a blog post for IP Watchdog discussing how “[t]he Trump Administration’s nominee for U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director, John Squires, has submitted written responses for the record following his May 21 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee.” McDermott and Quinn noted how, in his response, Squires “expressed his view that there is a need to ‘analyze trends in [Patent Trial and Appeal Board] proceedings against the relevant issued patent marketplace data to better understand why [inter partes reviews] have the types of numbers reported while [post-grant reviews] seem less preferred.” McDermott and Quinn also discussed how Squires “reiterated his philosophy that patents should be ‘born strong,’ including with respect to erroneously rejecting claims that should have been issued.”
Dani Kass authored an article published by Law 360 highlighting how “[t]he acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director’s decision on Friday to reject patent challenges due to the petitioner’s longstanding knowledge of a patent has many attorneys bracing for either a massive rise or dip in Patent Trial and Appeal Board filings.” Kass explained how Stewart “addressed the matter in a keynote speech at IAM’s IPBC global Conference,” stating that “petitioners should focus on tools like post-grant reviews that are early in the patent life, rather than filing IPRs as a defense to being sued.” Kass noted how “USPTO director nominee John Squires has likewise told Congress that PGRs should be prioritized more often.”