BLOG

The New Fast Track Program for Patent Appeals If you applied for a patent and your application was denied twice, you retain the option to file a formal appeal of the examiner’s decision with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Generally, the appeals process can be time-consuming and is rife with inefficiencies. Fortunately, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office launched a new, temporary pilot program to try and improve the adjudication of appeals filed with the PTAB. The new program, known as the “Fast Track Appeals Pilot Program” went into effect on July 2, 2020. Since it is in…

Moderna has been among multiple companies that have been quickly developing a potential vaccine for COVID-19. In mid-July, the biotechnology company announced that initial trials for the vaccine had found no serious side effects in human volunteers. The vaccine, known as mRNA-1273, is a novel lipid nanoparticle encapsulated mRNA that encodes for a full length, prefusion, stabilized spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. Essentially, the lipid nanoparticle carries the mRNA that encodes for whatever antigen that it is delivering (in this case, the antigen for COVID-19). Other vaccines, on the other hand, use a weakened or hollowed-out virus to act as a…

A lawsuit was recently filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against Tiffany & Co. for patent infringement. The complaint, filed by Jacob’s Jewelry Co. Ltd. cites its utility patent, United States Patent No. 9,609,923, for a “Color Changing Multiple Stone Setting.” At issue is a nearly $1 million pink sapphire and diamond bracelet from Tiffany & Co.’s 2016 Masterpieces Collection. While Jacob’s Jewelry claims to have been making and marketing color changing jewelry since several years prior to the issuance of its patent, the jewelry products covered by the patent allegedly “have…

Booking.com maintains a travel reservation website under the same name. Beginning in 2012, the company filed four applications to register the mark “Booking.com” in standard character as well as in stylized forms. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) examining attorney assigned to the travel reservation company’s applications concluded that the term “Booking.com” is generic for the services at issue and is therefore unregistrable. In particular, the USPTO Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) noted that “booking” means “making travel reservations” and “.com” signifies a commercial website. In this manner, “Booking.com” is understood by consumers as referring to “an…

            Sushi Nozawa Group filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California against The Hand Roll Bar Experience, or HRB, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. The owners of Sushi Nozawa Group operate Sugarfish, Nozawa Bar, and KazuNori, which uses the slogan “The Original Hand Roll Bar.” The group alleges that Downtown Los Angeles Japanese hand roll bar is liable for infringing their trademark in this phrase.             Sushi Nozawa was founded by its namesake chef Kazunori Nozawa. KazuNori creates specially crafted sushi hand rolls and deems itself the first of its kind…