An ethics blog for IP attorneys
Litigators Beware: Bad News Can Trigger USPTO Ethics Investigation
Bad news sells. As the author Douglas Adams observed, “Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.” Take IP litigation, for example. The mainstream IP media regularly reports on both allegations and court decisions regarding issues relating to attorney conduct–or alleged misconduct. […]
New Lawsuit Accuses IP Counsel Of Attacking Same Patents It Prosecuted
It is Ethics 101 that a law firm cannot use its former client’s confidential information in a substantially related matter on behalf of a different client directly adverse to the former client, at least not without the former client’s informed consent. The reason for this common sense rule, which prohibits “side-switching,” is that a lawyer’s […]
You Just Received An OED Bar Grievance. Now What?
The only time a patent attorney or agent ever wants to hear from the USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline is when they are admitted to the Patent Bar and issued a registration number. Other than that, no news is good news. So if an envelope arrives from the OED (certified mail, return receipt requested), […]
CLE: Advice of Counsel Defense and Privilege Waivers In Patent Litigation Post-Halo
CLE courses seem to be popping up left and right about the impact of the Supreme Court’s 2016 Halo v. Pulse decision reversing the prior Seagate willful infringement standard. The focus of these other CLEs seems to be more on the substantive law of willfulness and how the district courts have responded to the issue […]
USPTO Suspends Second Ex-Niro IP Attorney For 18 Months
It’s deja vu all over again: a second ex-Niro IP attorney has received an 18-month suspension from practice before the USPTO. Attorney Paul C. Gibbons, one of four attorneys from the now defunct Niro, Haller & Niro who were sanctioned for vexatious litigation arising from the firm’s representation of NPE Intellect Wireless, settled a disciplinary […]
The fallout from the Niro, Haller & Niro law firm’s doomed litigation on behalf of Intellect Wireless continues. For patent litigator David J. Mahalek, the most junior member of the Niro litigation team, the disciplinary shoe of the USPTO did not just drop–it kicked him in the teeth with an 18-month suspension of his law […]
To Encrypt, Or Not To Encrypt, That Is The Question
The ABA has dived head first into the pool of law firm cybersecurity. On May 11, 2017, the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility issued Formal Opinion 477 (here), which addresses a broad range of issues that lawyers must consider to protect client confidential information from “nefarious actors throughout the internet.” […]
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