Whether you practice in trademark or patent law, you generally want to avoid receiving communication from the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED). But what happens when they send you a certified letter that includes a Request for Information and Evidence Under 37 CFR 11.22(a) (RFI)? Understanding one of OED’s core missions, investigating allegations of […]
What To Do When You Receive An OED Grievance. Read More »
OED Warns Patent Agents: Stay In Your Lane
OED Warns Patent Agents: Stay In Your Lane Read More »
by Charles Lundberg, Esq. Reprinted with permission. Published March 30, 2020 in Minnesota Lawyer. In a span of less than two weeks, the coronavirus outbreak has caused unprecedented disruption in law firms and created a host of new issues for firm general counsel and ethics partners. Here is a sampling of new ethics and risk
Quandries and Quagmires: Legal Ethics, Risk Management in Pandemic Read More »
Inequitable conduct is supposed to be personal to each individual who owes a duty of disclosure to the USPTO. Thus, just because an inventor may have knowingly and intentionally lied to the USPTO does not mean that prosecution counsel did so as well. Indeed, most prosecutors are in a position where they must rely upon
The USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) exists, in large part, to ensure that patent and trademark practitioner are practicing ethically and in accordance with the Office’s Rules of Professional Conduct. The OED’s staff includes a dozen attorneys, many of whom have practical experience in the area of IP law. Whether you have been
Avoiding USPTO Discipline: Five Recommendations for IP Practitioners Read More »
A federal court in Alabama yesterday disqualified a law firm from representing a new client in a patent infringement case against a current firm client. In Southern Visions, LLP v. Red Diamond, Inc. (N.D. Ala. Feb. 26, 2019), the court held that Bradley Arant Boult Cummings (“Bradley”) was ethically barred from representing one client (Southern
If you represent a corporation, do you represent all entities in the corporate family? For example, if you represent a parent company, does that mean you also represent the parent’s subsidiaries? Does it matter if a subsidiary is wholly-owned vs. partially owned? How about if you represent a subsidiary–does that mean you also represent its
All In The Family: The Tricky Ethics Of Corporate Affiliate Conflicts Read More »
On February 6, 2019, the Colorado Supreme Court shuttered a Colorado business, which once billed itself as an “expert patent law” firm, and its owner, for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. According to the Court’s order (here), Intelligent Patent Services, LLC (IPS) and its non-lawyer owner, Dak Steiert, are enjoined from engaging in
Colorado Supreme Court Shuts Down Sham “Expert” Patent Law Firm Read More »
