Client Funds

OED’s Increasing Delays In “Reviewing” Reinstatement Petitions Is Unfair

OED, OED USPTO discipline, Office of Enrollment and Discipline, Patent Attorney Disciplinary Matters, Patent Ethics, Reinstatement, USPTO discipline, USPTO Discipline Procedure, USPTO OED /

An attorney’s suspension from the practice of law is not unlike a jail sentence.  Not literally, of course.  The suspended attorney is free to do anything they otherwise could do when they were not suspended, with the exception of practicing law. Many practitioners believe that once their suspension period has run its course, the practitioner is “released,” the suspension is automatically lifted, and […]

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More Than Legal Fees: The True Price Of An Ethics Investigation For Lawyers

Attorney Mental Health, Attorneys and Addiction, Patent Ethics, USPTO Discipline Procedure, USPTO Ethics Investigation, USPTO OED, Wellness /

Attorneys who find themselves in the crosshairs of an ethics investigation or disciplinary proceeding face significant costs.  When a lawyer receives a bar complaint, they typically focus on what it will cost to pay an attorney to represent them.  But the true price of an ethics investigation involves much more than just lawyer fees.  Lawyers

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McCabe & Ali Join Amicus Brief in Support of Perkins Coie

Patent Ethics /

McCabe & Ali is proud to have signed the amicus brief of Solo and Small Firm attorneys backing Perkins Coie’s challenge in the D.C. District Court to the Trump administration’s executive order targeting it.   Our firm, and 333 others, have requested leave to file an amicus brief condemning the order stripping security clearances from and

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AI discipline

The Citation Snafu: Did A Practitioner Using AI Get Disciplined?

Patent Ethics /

We’ve been tracking the burgeoning use of generative AI by patent and trademark lawyers, previously exploring its potential and pitfalls, including the use of AI before the TTAB, a warning about hallucination, and an IP lawyer’s guide to AI.  However, we had yet to see the USPTO actually discipline an attorney for the use of

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The USPTO’s New Design Patent Bar: A Closer Look at the Numbers

Patent Ethics /

On January 2, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) introduced the “Design Patent Bar,” which was an expansion designed to encourage diversity.  As USPTO Director Kathi Vidal stated in the months leading up to the new offering, the design patent bar was one of the ways she was working to ensure “everybody

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Understanding 37 CFR 11.801: A Lesson in Not Fully Cooperating with OED

Patent Ethics /

37 CFR 11.801 is a regulation that imposes a duty on practitioners to cooperate with the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED).  The regulation is divided into two key provisions that apply to applicants for registration, and those under disciplinary/reinstatement investigation: False Statements: The regulation first proscribes making false statements of material fact.  This is

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OED letterhead

Received a Request for Information and Evidence from OED – Here is How to Respond

Discipline, IP Ethics, Office of Enrollment and Discipline, Patent Ethics /

First Contact The envelope comes by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested and stamped as “Personal and Confidential.” Inside is a letter from the USPTO captioned “REQUEST FOR INFORMATION AND EVIDENCE UNDER 37 C.F.R. § 11.22(f).” The letter goes on to read that the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) received information regarding you, and that

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