Patently-O

by Dennis Crouch

The USPTO has proposed to end anonymous ex parte reexamination as we have known it. A notice of proposed rulemaking scheduled for Federal...

by Dennis Crouch

The en banc Ninth Circuit will hear argument during the week of September 28, 2026, in San Francisco, on the future of the "intrinsic test," the subjective half of the circuit's two-part test for copyright infringement. Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg, No. 24-3367 (9th Cir.). This is the second post about Sedlik.

by Dennis Crouch

The Supreme Court has been asked to decide whether an act of Congress can reallocate ownership of foreign copyrights. In BMG Rights Management (US) LLC v. Vetter, No. 25-1391, four music publishing entities represented by Paul Clement are seeking review of the Fifth Circuit's holding that when an author exercises the termination right of 17 ...

by Dennis Crouch

When do patent attorneys actually file? Not first thing in the morning, and not in a rush at the end of the business day. Across roughly 475,000 USPTO electronic filings May-June 2025, volume climbs steadily through the morning, peaks in the 3:00 p.m. hour Eastern, and then runs down a long evening tail. A quarter of everything arrives after 5:00 p...

by Dennis Crouch

The Request for Continued Examination has become the ordinary answer to a final rejection. An RCE lets an applicant reopen prosecution and keep working with the same examiner by paying a fee, rather than filing a fresh application or taking the case up to the Board. Weekly RCE filings are following something of a wave, with a high point in 2016 and...