An ethics blog for IP attorneys
Ethics Experts Sue Trump For “Countless Conflicts of Interest” From Foreign Payments
The rules of ethics–particularly rules that prohibit conflicts of interest and require the utmost loyalty–apply to the President of the United States. That is the premise underlying a lawsuit filed today by a group of ethics experts against President Trump. See Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington v. Donald J. Trump, Case No. 1:17-cv-00458-RA […]
IP Firm Tees Up Dismissal Of Subject Matter Conflict, Negligent Patent Prosecution Malpractice Case
A recent patent malpractice action filed in federal court in New York against an IP firm raises once again the issue of subject matter conflicts between concurrent clients in prosecuting patent applications in a similar field of technology. The issue of subject matter conflicts in concurrent patent representation continues to be an area of significant […]
CAFC Sanctions Patent Atty For Frivolous Appeal; Is USPTO Discipline Next?
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 […]
Failure To Communicate No. 1 Cause Of USPTO Attorney Discipline
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 […]
Appeals Court Rejects Belated Alice Defense, Affirms $8 Million Patent Malpractice Award
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected yesterday a now defunct Virginia IP firm’s attempt to rely on 35 U.S.C. § 101 and the Supreme Court’s Alice decision as a defense to an $8 million damages award arising from the firm’s negligence in handling a client’s patent application. Protostorm, LLC v. […]
Fraudulent Trademark Solicitations Raise Ethical Concerns For TM Attys
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. […]
The Danger Of Failing To Cooperate In A USPTO Ethics Investigation
“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 […]