This presentation will provide information of use to old pros and new practitioners. The panelists will provide an overview of the ethical obligations of practice as well as the substantive law of inequitable conduct and related disciplinary matters, including several recent cases finding inequitable conduct despite the barriers created in 2011 by Therasense. It will also provide practical procedures and practices to avoid creating a record that leads to inequitable conduct and for more compact prosecution.

The survey examines the economic aspects of intellectual property law practice, including individual billing rates and typical charges for representative IP law services.

On September 21, 2021, AIPLA submitted comments to the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) regarding the Draft Revision to the Chinese Patent Examination Guidelines (Draft for Solicitation of Comments). AIPLA provided comments and suggestions on more than fifteen guidelines outlined in a table format for readability. With respect to patent term compensation due to unreasonable delay at the CNIPA, drug patent term extension, and open license, in addition to seeking various classifications, AIPLA submitted a number of suggestions.

On August 10, 2021, AIPLA filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court case, Unicolors, Inc., v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz, L.P. (Case No. 20-915). The brief notes that the Ninth Circuit decision in the case increases the risk to copyright owners in that any erroneous legal conclusions set forth in a copyright application may have draconian repercussions, and if upheld, will likely increase the costs and burdens of copyright litigation. Two courses of action are suggested, including reversing the Ninth Circuit’s decision and recognizing the inherent power of district court judges to determine whether an allegation that a registrant has knowingly included inaccurate facts is reasonably plausible before referring a case to the Register of Copyrights.

We're continuing our monthly Virtual Water Cooler meetups through the end of the year! We know that we as continue in large measure to work-from-home, we're still missing the regular connection with our colleagues. That’s why AIPLA’s Committee on the Profession is inviting you to join us around the virtual water cooler for a 30 minute break.

We look forward to seeing you in-person at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center for our 2021 Annual Meeting, which will bring IP professionals together to network, learn, & grow, among the best and brightest in IP Law.

Please join the AIPLA Trade Secret Committee for the 2021 Trade Secret Summit, which is being held November 8-9, 2021 at the headquarters of SolarWinds in Austin, Texas. The AIPLA Trade Secret Summit is the leading trade secret conference in the nation, with speakers from across the spectrum of private practitioners, in-house counsel, government, and academia, as well as fantastic networking opportunities.

On June 29, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to keep the doctrine of assignor estoppel, but with limits on its application. This ruling is consistent with the amicus brief filed by AIPLA on March 1, 2021.

On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court reversed and vacated the Federal Circuit decision, dividing 5-4 on the judgment in United States v. Arthrex, Inc. In this majority opinion, the Supreme Court held that the unreviewable authority wielded by Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) during inter partes review is constitutionally incompatible with their appointment by the Secretary of Commerce to an inferior office.

On April 5, 2021, the US Supreme Court overturned Oracle’s copyright win over Google, holding that Google’s use of Oracle’s programming code from the Java SE Application Programming Interface (API) in their Android platform was a fair use and did not violate copyright laws. The Court determined that Google’s use of only the code that was needed to allow programmers to work in a new and transformative program was a fair use of that material. Writing for a 6-2 majority, Justice Breyer declined to address the first question on copyrightability and instead resolved the case focusing on the question of fair use by referencing the four guiding factors in the Copyright Act’s fair use provision. Justice Thomas filed a dissenting opinion that the ruling bypasses the question of whether the software code is protected by the Copyright Act. AIPLA filed an amicus brief in this case on January 13, 2020.