USPTO Reprimands Patent Attorney for Misusing Confidential Client Information

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T The USPTO publicly reprimanded a patent attorney who used information he learned while representing a former client to file, as named plaintiff, a false patent marking lawsuit for his own benefit.  In re Cipriani, No. D2012 This disciplinary action arose from attorney Glen Cipriani’s work as an associate on a patent litigation on behalf of …

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Upcoming IP Ethics Continuing Legal Education

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On Tuesday, September 30, 2014, DuPont and Widener University School of Law will be holding the 2014 Intellectual Property Continuing Legal Education Seminar at the DuPont Country Club in Wilmington, Delaware.  The full-day seminar will include a lecture on ethics by Professor David Hricik, a noted author, speaker, and expert on ethical issues in intellectual property law. On Thursday, …

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USPTO Suspends Patent Attorney Convicted Of Soliciting Sex With Minor

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On August 19, 2014, USPTO Deputy Director Michelle Lee temporarily suspended a 44-year old patent attorney after his conviction for soliciting sex online with an undercover officer posing as a 14-year old girl. Attorney Robert M. Bohanek’s license will remain suspended until completion of disciplinary proceedings. In re Bohanek, No. D2014-30. According to the Texas Attorney …

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USPTO Suspends Patent Attorney After State Discipline For UPL And Drug Conviction

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The USPTO suspended a patent attorney for six months from practicing before the Office following the attorney’s six-month suspension from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts bar. See In re Ramos, No. D2014-09. Timothy A. Ramos’ legal troubles began in 2009 as a result of his work for the Ramos Law Group, Inc., in Ohio. During an …

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Former Client Publicly Blasts Attorney Suspended by USPTO for Failure to Communicate

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The USPTO recently settled a disciplinary action filed against an IP attorney by suspending him from practice before the Office for five (5) months for failing to communicate and allowing his clients’ trademark applications to become abandoned without their knowledge or consent.  In re Shaffer, No. D2014-18. This disciplinary matter arose from an attorney’s representation of two …

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USPTO Disciplines Attorney For Billing $1,000 Hourly “Relationship Fee”

2 Comments / Client Funds, Discipline, PTO Ethics Decisions / By

The USPTO settled a disciplinary action filed against a non-patent attorney who billed a client thousands of dollars, at a rate of $1,000 per hour, to prepare a patent application and then, without his client’s knowledge or consent, outsourced the legal work to an unaffiliated patent attorney for a fraction of the fee paid by the client.   In re Lehat, No. …

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USPTO Excludes Attorney For Practicing Trademark Law With Suspended License

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The USPTO Deputy Director has accepted the resignation of a suspended practitioner who was caught prosecuting trademark matters while his USPTO bar license was suspended. The action means the attorney, Leonard Tachner, is excluded from practice before the Office in patent, trademark, and other non-patent matters. In re Tachner, No. D2014-22. The saga of Mr. Tachner’s ethical troubles began ten years ago. At …

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Luck Ends For Patent Attorney Who Tried To Bribe Way Out Of Arrest

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Only attorney Richard Chae knows what, exactly, he was thinking in the early morning hours of February 25, 2010, after police stopped him on suspicion of drunk driving. According to news reports, Mr. Chae had just left the poker room at the “Lucky Chances” casino when he was pulled over at 2:40 AM. Mr. Chae, who …

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