Office of Enrollment and Discipline

Narrow Scope of “Patent Agent Privilege” Creates Ethical Traps for the Unwary

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The Federal Circuit’s 2-1 decision yesterday in In re Queen’s University at Kingston resolved a split in the district courts over whether a “patent agent”-client privilege exists independent from the attorney-client privilege. The majority held it does. While the court’s holding provides clarification in this case of first impression, patent agents, their law firm employers, […]

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Mission Impassable: Moral Character Can Block Applicants From USPTO Bar Membership

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The Wolf: “Just because you are a character doesn’t mean that you have character.” – Pulp Fiction So you say you want to become registered to practice before the USPTO? You possess all the requisite technical skills. You did well in law school. You recently passed the Patent Bar Exam with flying colors. Congratulations. So

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The OED Redemption: Director Expediting Petitions To Reinstate Suspended Practitioners

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It is not necessarily an easy feat for a suspended lawyer to become readmitted to the Bar.  Some jurisdictions prohibit a suspended lawyer from even entering into a law firm.  In other jurisdictions, a suspended lawyer may work as a paralegal subject to numerous restrictions and conditions.   For lawyers who have practiced for many

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Caveat IP Lawyer – Beware The Office of Enrollment and Discipline Violating The USPTO’s Reciprocal Discipline Rules

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At first glance, the USPTO’s most recently published disciplinary decision seems relatively bland and altogether innocuous. The case of In re Juliet M. Oberding, Proceeding No. D2016-06 (USPTO Dir. Feb. 12, 2016) involves a California-based trademark attorney who told a client on several occasions, over the course of roughly 18 months, that the client’s trademark

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IP Attorney Challenging Constitutionality Of USPTO OED’s “Abusive” Ethics Investigation

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An IP attorney has filed a lawsuit against the United States Patent and Trademark Office seeking to prohibit the Agency’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) from continuing to investigate him for alleged ethics violations because the process employed in conducting the ethics investigation is abusive and violates due process. The complaint, which was filed

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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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The “Rat Rule” And USPTO Discipline – Reporting Ethical Violations To OED (Part 1)

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

“Never rat out your friends. And always keep your mouth shut.” – Robert De Niro, GoodFellas I am of Sicilian ancestry, raised in an Italian household in an Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn.  Despite this upbringing, it was not until I was an adult when I first learned about the “Code of Silence” known as “omertà.”

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Drunk Driving Can Lead To Professional Discipline

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The Bar cares when you’ve stayed too long at the bar. Attorneys need to be mindful that a conviction for drunk driving may impact their ability to practice law. Practitioners who are subject to the disciplinary jurisdiction of the USPTO, for example, must advise the Office of Enrollment and Discipline within 30 days of any criminal

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