exclusion

PTO Excludes Patent Attorney Who Paid Client To Deep-Six Ethics Complaint

Money can buy many things.  When a lawyer and client have a dispute, such as a client’s claim for legal malpractice, money often can buy “peace.”  And when clients and their lawyers settle such a  dispute, it is common for the parties to agree by contract to dismiss—or refrain from filing—a civil complaint. But a […]

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USPTO Disbars Siemens’ Outside Patent Atty For $2.5M Billing Fraud

Each year, a number of patent and trademark practitioners agree to exclusion from the USPTO rather than face an OED ethics investigation or USPTO disciplinary action.  While not always the case, such consent exclusions usually involve very serious–and often criminal–practitioner misconduct. One such matter is the case of former patent attorney David N. Caracappa.  See In

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District Court Holds USPTO’s Reciprocal Discipline Rule Requires Agency To Impose “Identical” Sanction As State Bar

USPTO practitioners take heed — if you are publicly disciplined on ethical grounds by a State Bar, the USPTO must impose the identical disciplinary sanction as the State Bar.  Moreover, Section 11.24 provides practitioners notice regarding the procedure to be followed if a practitioner is disciplined on ethical grounds by another jurisdiction.  Those are the

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USPTO Reciprocally Excludes Patent Lawyer Based On State Court Disbarment

 On July 15, 2015, the USPTO Director entered an order excluding Richard Polidi from practice before the Office.  The USPTO Director’s disciplinary action came after the Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) filed a complaint for reciprocal discipline predicated on Mr. Polidi’s disbarment from State Bar of North Carolina. Based on public documents filed

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USPTO Disbars Attorney For Engaging In Pattern Of Client Neglect, Deceit, And Misappropriation

Never lie, never cheat, never steal. – John Wooden Patent attorney Rodney K. Worrel should have listened to the sage advice of UCLA’s legendary basketball coach. The California-based attorney has been excluded from practice before the USPTO for engaging in a pattern of misconduct that involved multiple acts of neglect, deceit, and conversion of client

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USPTO Excludes Attorney For Practicing Trademark Law With Suspended License

The USPTO Deputy Director has accepted the resignation of a suspended practitioner who was caught prosecuting trademark matters while his USPTO bar license was suspended. The action means the attorney, Leonard Tachner, is excluded from practice before the Office in patent, trademark, and other non-patent matters. In re Tachner, No. D2014-22. The saga of Mr. Tachner’s ethical troubles began ten years ago. At

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Alj Fernández Issues Initial Decision Excluding Patent Attorney Who Kept Fees After Failing To Provide Services

Administrative Law Judge Alexander Fernández issued an initial decision excluding a patent attorney from practice before the USPTO because the attorney accepted fees from a client to prepare a patent application, failed to provide any legal services, and failed to return any of the client’s fee even after the client was awarded a money judgment against the

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