Client Funds

CAFC Sanctions Patent Atty For Frivolous Appeal; Is USPTO Discipline Next?

1 Comment / District Court Litigation, IP Litigation Sanctions, Litigation Ethics, Patent Ethics, Patent Litigation Ethics / By

The Federal Circuit on Friday affirmed a district court’s order imposing sanctions against a Colorado patent attorney and his patentee client for vexatious litigation.  Doubling down, the Federal Circuit imposed its own sanctions for what it says was a frivolous appeal.  See Walker v. Health International Corp., No. 15-1676 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 6, 2017).  The CAFC’s ruling opens the […]

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Failure To Communicate No. 1 Cause Of USPTO Attorney Discipline

1 Comment / Communications, Diligence, Discipline, Failure to Communicate, Patent Ethics / By

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, since it is the New Year I thought it would be helpful to remind you all, again, of what is in my opinion the First Commandment of Ethics:  Thou Shalt Communicate With Thy Clients. Seriously.  Clients do not like to be ignored by their attorneys.  This

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Fraudulent Trademark Solicitations Raise Ethical Concerns For TM Attys

Leave a Comment / Attorney Fraud, Client Funds, Competence, Trademark Ethics / By

The USPTO today issued a warning about the dangers of fraudulent trademark solicitations.  In a blog posted on the USPTO’s website (link here), Commissioner for Trademarks Mary Boney Denison warned: Trademark solicitations have been a global problem for decades, including for USPTO customers, and we have implemented several measures to protect our customers against them.

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The Danger Of Failing To Cooperate In A USPTO Ethics Investigation

Leave a Comment / Patent Ethics, USPTO Ethics Investigation, USPTO OED / By

“What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”  Cool Hand Luke A law school professor once told me the easiest question to grade on an exam is the one where the student fails to provide any answer at all.  So too is the case for the IP practitioner who chooses to ignore a USPTO ethics

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Is Working From Home Unethical? Telecommuting And Unauthorized Practice Of Law

Leave a Comment / ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Patent Ethics, Unauthorized Practice of Law / By

I have lived and worked in the Washington, D.C. metro area my entire adult life.  Washington is notorious for its traffic. The math for my office commute is simple.  Ten hours per week.  500 hours per year.  For 30 years.  That’s 15,000 hours–or 1.71 years of my life–just going to and from the office. I

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USPTO Disbars Siemens’ Outside Patent Atty For $2.5M Billing Fraud

Leave a Comment / Consent Resignation, Criminal Conviction, OED, Office of Enrollment and Discipline, Patent Ethics / By

Each year, a number of patent and trademark practitioners agree to exclusion from the USPTO rather than face an OED ethics investigation or USPTO disciplinary action.  While not always the case, such consent exclusions usually involve very serious–and often criminal–practitioner misconduct. One such matter is the case of former patent attorney David N. Caracappa.  See In

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OED Cracks Down On Patent Practitioners Working With Invention Promoters

2 Comments / Communications, Competence, Conflicts of Interest, Patent Ethics, PTO Ethics Decisions, PTO Ethics Rules, USPTO Ethics Investigation, USPTO OED / By

George Foreman pitches their services on late night television commercials.  A Google search for “how to sell my invention” turns up scores of them. Many individual inventors believe they have designed the next “better mouse trap” but typically have no clue how to monetize or market their invention. That is where invention marketing or promotion

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