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Director Squires Just Closed A Door Nobody Knew Existed
- 10.25.2025
Authored by Babak Akhlaghi on October 25, 2025. Director John Squires made his first move, and most patent practitioners missed what just happened. In his inaugural Director Review decision, Director Squires didn’t just reverse the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s ruling. He terminated the entire […]
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Big Tech Faces Losing Its Patent Invalidation Playbook
- 10.19.2025
Authored by Babak Akhlaghi on October 17, 2025. The numbers tell a story the USPTO finally decided to acknowledge. More than half of all IPR petitions since the America Invents Act target patents already under challenge. That’s not quality control. It reflects systemic incentives that […]
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AI Patent Applications Have a New Secret Weapon
- 09.19.2025
Authored by Babak Akhlaghi on September 19, 2025. The USPTO’s August 2025 memorandum represents a significant shift in how examiners evaluate AI and software patents. Most patent practitioners are focusing on the wrong aspects of this guidance update. While it clarifies existing rules rather than […]
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Patent Challengers Just Hit a Challenging Wall
- 09.06.2025
Authored by Babak Akhlaghi on September 6, 2025. September 1st marked the end of an era in patent law. The USPTO just made it nearly impossible to challenge patents the easy way. Rule 42.104(b)(4) enforcement means IPR petitioners must now identify exactly where each claim […]
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Federal Circuit Rules Applying Conventional Machine Learning to New Data Environments Is Not Patent-Eligible
- 05.09.2025
Authored by Babak Akhlaghi on May 8, 2025. In Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox Corp. et al., Case No. 23-2437 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 18, 2025) (Dyk, Prost, Goldberg, JJ.), the Federal Circuit held that applying conventional machine learning methods to a new data environment are […]
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Federal Circuit Backs PTAB in AliveCor v. Apple
- 03.26.2025
Authored by Babak Akhlaghi on March 26, 2025. The Federal Circuit, in the consolidated cases of AliveCor, Inc. v. Apple Inc., Case Nos. 2023-1512, 2023-1513, and 2023-1514 (Fed. Cir. March 7, 2025), affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) findings that AliveCor’s three patents were […]
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Federal Circuit’s ODP Clarification: A Guide for a Patent Attorney
- 09.01.2024
Authored by Babak Akhlaghi on August 27, 2024. In the world of patent law, clarity is key. Building on my takeaways from the In re Cellect decision last year, a recent Federal Circuit case, Allergan USA, Inc. v. MSN Laboratories Private Ltd., No. 2024-1061 (Fed. […]
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USPTO Updates Guidance on Obviousness Rejection: Flexibility is Key
- 03.05.2024
By Babak Akhlaghi on March 4, 2024. To secure a patent, an invention must be both novel and non-obvious. While demonstrating novelty is relatively straightforward—simply proving that the invention doesn’t exist in any previous patents or publications—the test for obviousness presents a greater challenge. Applicants […]
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“Pre-Prosecution Pilot”
- 01.29.2024
By Babak Akhlaghi on January 5, 2024. On December 21, 2023, The United States Patent and Trademark Office launched a new program called the “Pre-Prosecution Pilot” to assist first-time inventors. This program aims to help these inventors to assess the strength of their invention and […]
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Fast-Track Your Semiconductor Innovations with USPTO’s Pilot Program
- 12.08.2023
By Babak Akhlaghi on December 8, 2023. In my previous post, I walked you through the typical journey of a patent application, from its inception to the examination phase. As I mentioned, due to a backlog at the USPTO, it can take a couple of […]
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