Patent Attorney Disciplinary Matters

Ninth Circuit Holds Rule 45 Subpoena Geographic Limits Apply To Remote Testimony: Is This Doom And Gloom For Trial By Zoom?

In an appellate case of first impression on a novel procedural issue, the Ninth Circuit on July 27 in Kirkland v. USBC, Los Angeles, quashed trial subpoenas purporting to command individuals who resided and worked out-of-state and more than 100 miles from the courthouse to “appear” at a hearing by contemporaneous video transmission.  Addressing an […]

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Tales From The OED Crypt: Using Forged Document To Trick Witness Can Get Counsel Treated To Discipline

Lawyers often are accused of playing “tricks” in litigation. For those who are familiar with trial tactics, the “trick” label is usually nothing more than legal “tradecraft” – the techniques of experienced litigators to weave a story through a combination of arguments, documents, and witness testimony. Pretending to read from a document while asking a

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Allowing Someone Else To Type In Your S-Signature On USPTO Documents Is Unethical

I still remember vividly today the very first time I signed a paper, as an attorney at law, for filing in court.  It was 22 years ago.  I remember being nervous. I practiced my signature on a scratch pad, wanting to get it just right, before finally putting ball point to paper.  The paper was of heavy bond,

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Is OED’s Indefinite Delay In “Reviewing” Reinstatement Applications Constitutional?

An attorney’s suspension from the practice of law is not unlike a jail sentence.  Not literally, of course.  The suspended attorney is free to do anything they otherwise could do when they were not suspended, with the exception of practicing law. Many practitioners believe that once their suspension period has run its course, the practitioner is “released,” the suspension is automatically lifted, and

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Is The USPTO’s One-Year Statute Of Limitations For Filing An Ethics Complaint Triggered By The OED’s Failure To Investigate Or Willful Blindness?

One of the lesser publicized changes to patent law made by the America Invents Act was the amendment to Title 35, Section 32, which included two separate limitations periods for USPTO disciplinary complaints. As amended, Section 32 states a USPTO disciplinary proceeding must be commenced: not later than the earlier of either the date that

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Supreme Court Spares Patent Attorney From Discipline

Talk about a close call.  Patent attorney Howard Shipley is no doubt breathing a sigh of relief today after the Supreme Court dismissed its December 8, 2014, Order to Show Cause why Mr. Shipley should not be sanctioned. The Court issued its rare Show Cause Order after Mr. Shipley filed what his counsel characterized as an “unorthodox” petition for writ

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IP Counsel Who Blindly Follow Client “Instructions” Risk Loss Of Law License

Intellectual Property law firms often receive substantive documents, including original applications and amendments, with “instructions” from their client to file the paper in the USPTO, essentially as is. And just as often, IP counsel dutifully follow their clients’ orders and simply have a non-lawyer “clean up” the document so it “looks” right and, without any substantive

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Patent Attorney Disbarred For Attempting To Extort Fees From Former Law Firm

On December 31, 2014, the USPTO Director issued an Order of Reciprocal Discipline excluding a Bellevue, Washington patent attorney from practicing before the Office. Former patent attorney Jeffrey T. Haley’s exclusion followed his voluntary resignation from the State Bar of Washington, where he had been charged with attempted extortion from his former law firm. The Compensation

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