As the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots meet again on football’s biggest stage, the rematch inevitably pulls everyone back to one moment. Different rosters. Different seasons. Same unresolved question. With a championship on the line, memories of the one-yard line come rushing back, not because the teams are the same, but because the
Every year has its “it” term.
In 2025, the crown belonged to AI, and rightfully so. AI dominated the headlines, flooded the USPTO’s dockets, and triggered more §101 rejections than any examiner would care to admit. If you worked in tech, you had to talk about AI. If you worked in patent law, you likely
Thanksgiving is finally here, which means the turkey gets its annual moment in the spotlight. For 364 days a year, the turkey is just trying to fit in. It was forced to take on roles it never auditioned for. Turkey bacon. Turkey sausage. Turkey pastrami. Turkey pepperoni on pizza that never asked for it. All
Another day, another change at the USPTO.
If you have ever filed a patent application, you know there is a section that asks for your entity status: Large, Small, or Micro. If you have ever asked yourself whether size matters, the answer is now officially yes.
On October 24, 2025, the Office of the Assistant
Growing up, my mom had a rule: you have to make your own Halloween costume from whatever we had at home. This worked fine until the year I wanted to be He-Man. Unfortunately, we couldn’t use household items to harness the power of Grayskull. Eventually, my mom gave in and bought the costume. I’m still
Another day and another change at the USPTO. On October 8, the USPTO announced an Artificial Intelligence Pilot Program for pre-examination searches. Last week, on October 24, the USPTO followed with the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program aimed at accelerating examination through simplified claim structures. Together, these initiatives reflect Director John Squires’ drive to modernize
In a new Law360 article, Seyfarth partners Puya Partow-Navid and Brian Michaelis examine the early actions of newly appointed USPTO Director John A. Squires and their potential impact on patent eligibility, PTAB proceedings, and patent prosecution.
The piece explores Director Squires’ initial policy moves, including his decision to personally oversee AIA trial institution decisions and
The USPTO just changed how interviews between a USPTO patent examiner and a patent applicant are treated. On October 2, USPTO management revised the examiner Performance Appraisal Plan (PAP) for FY 2026, capping compensation for interviews at one hour per round of prosecution.
Previously, examiners earned an hour of credit for each interview, with no
Starting January 1, 2026, California’s AI Transparency Act (SB 942) goes into effect, marking the first law in the U.S. to require built-in disclosures and detection tools for generative AI content. Do not panic (yet). This law does not apply to every system out there. In fact, many companies may be surprised to find they’re
Superman has soared back onto the big screen, and unless you’ve been locked in the Fortress of Solitude, you already know his origin story: Rocketed from the doomed planet Krypton. Raised in Kansas. Secretly, a mild-mannered reporter. Publicly, the world’s greatest hero.
But behind the scenes, in the real world, Superman has another origin story.