On Friday, May 15, I was honored to be a presenter at the Annual Meeting of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the Arizona Bar, held in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. Roberta Tepper of the State Bar of Arizona and I went a full two hours, providing the section members with treasured ethics CLE credits. The IP Bar in […]
Arizona Bar IP Section Hot for Ethics Read More »
On May 15, 2015, the USPTO Director issued an Order suspending Seattle, Washington-based patent and trademark attorney Nam D. Dao for six months for allowing multiple patent and trademark applications to go abandoned without client knowledge or consent, engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, and failing to cooperate with the Office of Enrollment and
USPTO Suspends Patent Attorney For Neglect, UPL And Failure To Cooperate Read More »
One of the lesser publicized changes to patent law made by the America Invents Act was the amendment to Title 35, Section 32, which included two separate limitations periods for USPTO disciplinary complaints. As amended, Section 32 states a USPTO disciplinary proceeding must be commenced: not later than the earlier of either the date that
Talk about a close call. Patent attorney Howard Shipley is no doubt breathing a sigh of relief today after the Supreme Court dismissed its December 8, 2014, Order to Show Cause why Mr. Shipley should not be sanctioned. The Court issued its rare Show Cause Order after Mr. Shipley filed what his counsel characterized as an “unorthodox” petition for writ
Supreme Court Spares Patent Attorney From Discipline Read More »
Intellectual Property law firms often receive substantive documents, including original applications and amendments, with “instructions” from their client to file the paper in the USPTO, essentially as is. And just as often, IP counsel dutifully follow their clients’ orders and simply have a non-lawyer “clean up” the document so it “looks” right and, without any substantive
IP Counsel Who Blindly Follow Client “Instructions” Risk Loss Of Law License Read More »
The Intellectual Property Ethics Bar lost a luminary this weekend with the passing, on February 28, 2015, of Paul A. Vapnek. Mr. Vapnek was 86. “Preeminent.” “A mentor.” “‘Dean’ of legal ethics in California,” were just some of the words used to describe Mr. Vapnek in an article published in the March 2013, edition of the
In Memoriam: Paul A. Vapnek Read More »
How close is too close? That is a question that has perplexed patent attorneys who prepare and prosecute patent applications for multiple clients in the same, or similar, fields of technology. At least one state appeals court has decided to take this question head on. As previously reported in our January 2, 2015, posting, the Justices of
Mass. Sup. Ct. Schedules Oral Argument on Subject Matter Conflicts in Patent Prosecution Read More »
On December 31, 2014, the USPTO Director issued an Order of Reciprocal Discipline excluding a Bellevue, Washington patent attorney from practicing before the Office. Former patent attorney Jeffrey T. Haley’s exclusion followed his voluntary resignation from the State Bar of Washington, where he had been charged with attempted extortion from his former law firm. The Compensation
Patent Attorney Disbarred For Attempting To Extort Fees From Former Law Firm Read More »
