Bar Counsel Imposes Discipline For “Personal” Misconduct & Legal But Unethical Behavior

6 Comments / Patent Ethics, PTO Ethics Decisions, PTO Ethics Rules, USPTO Director Decisions, USPTO OED / By

Many members of the public, and some attorneys themselves, believe that if they do not lie, they do not steal, and they do not cheat, then their conduct necessarily complies with the Rules of Professional Conduct.  This is a false assumption.  Others believe that an attorney’s “transgressions” in her personal life will not affect her […]

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Get Out Of Town: The Ethical Perils Of Outsourcing IP Services

3 Comments / Competence, Confidentiality, IP Ethics, Outsourcing, Patent Ethics / By

Many IP lawyers engage other lawyers or nonlawyers as independent contractors, directly or through intermediaries, to provide various legal and nonlegal support services. The outsourcing market, often referred to as the “legal process outsourcing” market or “professional employer organization” market, is a multi-billion dollar industry. While there is nothing per se unethical about a lawyer outsourcing

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Lawyers Need To Know When It’s Time To Shut Up

Leave a Comment / Confidentiality, Patent Ethics / By

I was on a long flight recently and had the misfortune to have to sit behind two lawyers for several hours.  For almost the entire duration of the flight, the attorneys were involved in a detailed discussion about what was obvious (to me anyway) to be a client matter.  They were discussing an upcoming deposition,

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Law Firms Tell Mass. Supreme Court No Subject Matter Conflict In Patent Prosecution Unless Claims “Identical” Or “Mere Obvious Variants”

1 Comment / Conflicts of Interest, Malpractice, Patent Ethics, Patent Malpractice / By

On August 20, 2015, eleven law firms filed a joint amicus brief in the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts in Maling v. Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner.  In Maling, the Massachusetts high court requested amicus briefing on whether Finnegan Henderson’s concurrent representation of two different clients who were allegedly seeking patent protection at the

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What They Didn’t Teach In Law School: The Ethical Duty Of “Technical Competence”

Leave a Comment / ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Competence, Confidentiality, Continuing Legal Education / By

“True wisdom is knowing what you don’t know.” — Confucius One of my former partners, a brilliant patent lawyer who was (and is) widely respected in the patent bar, used his desktop computer for one purpose and one purpose only—as a convenient surface on which to attach yellow sticky post-it notes to himself. To my

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USPTO Reciprocally Excludes Patent Lawyer Based On State Court Disbarment

Leave a Comment / Client Funds, IP Ethics, Patent Ethics, PTO Ethics Decisions, Reciprocal Discipline / By

 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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Law Firm Ethics Counsel Provide Risk Management Tips

3 Comments / Continuing Legal Education, Risk Management / By

During the July 31, 2015, semi-annual meeting of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers in Chicago, a panel of APRL attorneys who serve as their law firm’s internal ethics counsel discussed some of the common dilemmas and issue they face in their daily practice of representing their law firm client. The issues addressed during this sesssion

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OED Discipline For IP Practitioners Who Use “Snitch” Threats For Tactical Gain

Leave a Comment / ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Duty to Report Misconduct, IP Ethics, OED, Office of Enrollment and Discipline, PTO Ethics Rules, USPTO OED / By

  “You’re building a rat ship here. A vessel for seagoing snitches” – Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman You represent a patentee in a highly contentious litigation against an accused infringer.  The parties hate each other, and the gloves came off months ago–if they were ever on in the first place. Then extraordinarily you

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