By Mark Levine and Quincy Harrison You may have heard about the recent budget cuts, hiring freezes, and likely staffing reductions at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), with some experts even going so far as to declare that “The US Patent System Is in Crisis.” The impact is real. And both patent applicants and their legal counsel should be taking strategic measures to mitigate that impact to the greatest extent possible. The USPTO has long been one of the rare self-funded, revenue-positive government agencies. Historically, the Patent Office has reinvested those revenues to reduce delays, improve examiner…
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To Search or Not to Search? That is the Question.
With Patentability and Freedom to Operate Searches, Each Path Can Yield Risk or Reward. By Jean McCarthy Like “Paper or Plastic?” the choice involves genuine tradeoffs, and the answer is: “it depends.” But even more so than the perennial checkout question at the supermarket, the decision as to whether inventors and their counsel should conduct a patentability search prior to investing time and resources into a particular technology must be weighed with careful consideration. A search might uncover clear barriers and could provide a path to navigate the prior art, but some see potential downsides. The resistance to “slowing things…
U.S. Copyright Office Releases New Guidance on Copyrightability and Artificial Intelligence
By: Stephen Mahan In January 2025, the U.S. Copyright Office released Part 2 of its “Copyright and Artificial Intelligence” report, focusing on the copyrightability of outputs generated by artificial intelligence (AI) systems. While intended to provide clarity around how the Copyright Office will treat AI-generated works in terms of copyrightability, my view is that the guidance practically amounts to a concession that, put candidly, “It depends.” What is clear, however, is that, given the sudden and dramatic proliferation of AI-generated content all over the Internet, a proactive and persistent approach to managing one’s IP portfolio requires greater rigor and vigilance…