On June 10, 2021, the USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline will announce its intention to delay by two years its previously-published requirement for biennial mandatory “registration statements” from all registered patent attorneys and agents. The USPTO’s announcement has no impact on trademark attorneys. Last year, the USPTO published a final rule stating that the […]
OED Warns Patent Agents: Stay In Your Lane
OED Warns Patent Agents: Stay In Your Lane Read More »
On February 27, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia affirmed a decision by the USPTO Director excluding a registered patent agent from practice before the USPTO because the agent practiced trademark law. Factual Background Bang-er Shia became a registered patent agent in 2005; she has never been admitted to the
District Court Affirms PTO’s Disbarment Of Patent Agent Who Practiced TM Law Read More »
The Federal Circuit’s 2-1 decision yesterday in In re Queen’s University at Kingston resolved a split in the district courts over whether a “patent agent”-client privilege exists independent from the attorney-client privilege. The majority held it does. While the court’s holding provides clarification in this case of first impression, patent agents, their law firm employers,
Narrow Scope of “Patent Agent Privilege” Creates Ethical Traps for the Unwary Read More »
Since 1974, legal ethics instruction has been required by the major accreditation institute for law schools. Legal ethics subjects are now covered in the essay portion of state bar examinations across the country; passage of the bar examination is a condition of licensure in most states. Further still, most states require lawyers to pass the Multistate
Why No Mandatory Ethics Training for Patent Agents? Read More »
