Patent Ethics

McCabe & Ali Join Amicus Brief in Support of Perkins Coie

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?

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

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

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

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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Office of Enrollment and Discipline Offers Anonymous Ethics Hotline for PTO Practitioners

Who are you going to call if you have a question about whether your conduct as a patent or trademark attorney is ethical?   Many state bars offer “ethics hotlines” to aid their members in their understanding of, and compliance with, their obligations under applicable rules of professional conduct. Although the USPTO does not advertise a

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USPTO Orders Six-Month Suspension For Patent Agent Who Lied To Client About Design App And Failed To Cooperate With OED

The USPTO has ordered a registered patent agent who allowed a patent application to go abandoned, failed to communicate with his client, and failed to cooperate with the Office of Enrollment and Discipline’s ethics investigation to serve a six-month license suspension and one-year probation.  This case presents a cautionary tale for IP practitioners and teaches

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