United States: Patent

On October 17, 2025, the Acting Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a letter and memorandum reinvigorating Director authority over the institution of inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) trial proceedings to align more closely with the statutory language and congressional intent of 35 U.S.C. § 314.

In his inaugural Director Review decision, Director Squires didn't just reverse the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's ruling. He terminated the entire inter partes review.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the "Automated Search Pilot Program" to evaluate the impact of sharing AI-generated search results with applicants before substantive examination.

On October 17, 2025, John Squires, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), issued a significant memorandum with subject line "Director Institution of AIA Trial Proceedings."

In an opinion synthesizing and applying the current state of Section 101 law, Judge William Bryson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, sitting by designation in a district court, held on summary judgment that a patent claim directed to improving users' profiles for online dating.

Patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 should be a straightforward threshold question: any "new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition...

Since the inception of the bifurcated review process at the PTAB, Jones Day has been analyzing every discretionary decision released by the Office. Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart continues to be the key decisionmaker...

On Friday, October 17, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published proposed rule changes that would serve to limit the availability of patentability reviews...

On October 17th, the PTAB issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding criteria for the Office to apply when making discretionary denial determinations.