The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has seen sweeping changes under Director John Squires and Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart, ranging from pro-patent owner policies at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to employment shake-ups that have prompted departures from the agency.
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Intellectual Property
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Analysis

Squires And Stewart's Patent Office, By The Numbers

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has seen sweeping changes under Director John Squires and Deputy Director Coke Morgan Stewart, ranging from pro-patent owner policies at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to employment shake-ups that have prompted departures from the agency.

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4 Attys Sanctioned Over AI Hallucinations In Legal Brief

By Elliot Weld

A Kansas federal judge has issued sanctions against a group of lawyers representing a technology company in a patent dispute and has referred one attorney for disciplinary action over case citations hallucinated by ChatGPT appearing in a legal brief.

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Boston IP Firm Sees Malpractice Claims Revived By 1st Circ.

By Elliot Weld

The First Circuit has revived legal malpractice claims from a Colorado tech company that alleged it was betrayed when its lawyers at a Boston intellectual property law firm filed patents for another client, finding that a lower court's ruling that the claims were time-barred assumed the three-person company comprised exclusively of engineers had an understanding of tricky legal concepts.

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Fed. Circ. Questions Bid To Undo Google, Microsoft PTAB Win

By Ryan Davis

A Federal Circuit panel appeared unpersuaded Tuesday by an inventor's arguments that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board should have ended reviews of computer-locating patents challenged by Google and Microsoft due to actions by LG in a related case, and that the board wrongly invalidated the patents.

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Fed. Circ. Backs Nearmap Win On 2 Out Of 3 PTAB Challenges

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Tuesday stood by Nearmap's successful challenges at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to a pair of patents covering a system for identifying attributes in a roof by using aerial imagery, but also refused to undo its unsuccessful challenge to another patent.

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Full Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink $162K Fee Award In Ramey Case

By Emily Sawicki

The Federal Circuit will not reconsider its earlier ruling upholding a $162,000 fee award against a patent owner represented by attorney William Ramey III and his firm, Ramey LLP, after a district court found Ramey had brought a "weak" patent suit against television maker Vizio.

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TikTok, Cellspin Duel On Effects Of Sale In Patent Challenge

By Adam Lidgett

TikTok has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the sale of its majority stake in its U.S. operations to a new joint venture should eliminate a patent owner's argument that the app's alleged relationship with the Chinese Communist Party should tank its patent challenges.

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XAI Fights Uphill To Keep Alive OpenAI IP Theft Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

Elon Musk's xAI urged a California federal judge Tuesday to change her tentative decision to toss its suit accusing OpenAI of poaching its workers to steal trade secrets, arguing that when considered together, the "whole gestalt" of xAI's allegations against individual employees is enough to state viable claims against OpenAI.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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PATENTS

Feds, Samsung Urge Justices To Reject PTAB Prior Art Case

By Adam Lidgett

The federal government and Samsung have both urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a patent owner's challenge to the Federal Circuit's finding that the filing date of a patent dictates if it can be considered prior art.

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ATV Co. Accuses Rival Of Infringing Patents On Side-By-Sides

By Jack McLoone

Recreational vehicle manufacturer Polaris Inc. accused a rival of infringing its patents related to multi-occupant ATVs known as side-by-sides in two venues, filing a patent infringement suit in Minnesota federal court while also petitioning the U.S. International Trade Commission for an import ban on the products.

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COPYRIGHTS & TRADEMARKS

Tobacco Co. Says 'Time Bubble' Robbed It Of Fair TM Trial

By Mike Curley

BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP is asking an Arizona federal court for a new trial on its trademark infringement claims against Central Coast Agriculture Inc., saying the court wrongly created a "time bubble" that excluded all evidence from May 2021 on.

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Amway Looks To Sidestep Gut Drink Trademark Fight In NC

By Hayley Fowler

Multi-level marketing giant Amway is seeking an early exit from a trademark infringement suit brought by a supplement maker in North Carolina, saying it has no ties to the Tar Heel state sufficient to be dragged into court there.

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Brief

USPTO, With Squires' Signature, Seeks 'Board Of Peace' TMs

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has filed a pair of applications for trademarks covering President Donald Trump's Board of Peace, with Director John Squires listed as the attorney pursuing the marks. 

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TRADE SECRETS

1st Circ. Pushes For Settlement In Mass. 'Right-To-Repair' Suit

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit suggested Tuesday that major automakers and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office should work together to resolve a suit over compliance with a state law requiring open access to vehicle telematics systems.

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Martin Shkreli Countersues, Adds RZA To Wu-Tang Fight

By Hailey Konnath

Martin Shkreli has filed counterclaims and added Wu-Tang Clan rappers and producers RZA and Cilvaringz as counterdefendants in litigation over the group's one-of-a-kind album he once owned, a move that comes just weeks after a New York federal judge rejected Shkreli's request to bring the Wu-Tang members into the dispute.

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Pharma Co. Stole Secrets For LSD Medical Trials, Suit Says

By Mike Curley

A clinical trial services company is suing Definium Therapeutics Inc. in Delaware federal court, alleging that it stole trade secrets during Phase 2 trials of LSD treatments for psychiatric disorders, then passed those secrets on to a rival services company for Phase 3 trials.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Upshot Of 'Skinny Label' Case May Go Beyond Pharma

The U.S. Supreme Court's pending review of Hikma v. Amarin, over a drugmaker's "skinny label," carries implications for both generics and brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers, and could shed light on how inducement doctrine should operate in other regulated industries where products have substantial lawful uses, says Jason Shull at Banner Witcoff.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Habeas Cases Flood Courts After Immigrant Detention Shift

By Jack Karp

Federal courts have been inundated with a flood of cases stemming from the Trump administration's revised approach to the detention of unauthorized immigrants, with judges routinely ruling against the government as immigration attorneys scramble to keep up.

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Baker McKenzie Describes Client Fallout After Assault Claims

By Alison Knezevich

Several clients asked the leader of Baker McKenzie's Washington, D.C., office to stop handling work for them after he was accused of sexual assault, according to a new filing in a defamation case against the former firm associate who made the allegations.

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Goldstein Knew What Was On His Returns, Accountant Claims

By Jared Foretek

The top outside accountant handling tax returns for SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein and his law firm said Tuesday that Goldstein wasn't forthcoming about his gambling records and that he firmly believed the former U.S. Supreme Court attorney knew what was in his allegedly false tax returns when they were filed.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Yew Warns Of Deepfake Evidence

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

After decades on the bench of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, Judge Erica Yew began to regard the future of courtroom evidence with some trepidation, as the rapid evolution of artificial intelligence made it easier to falsify documents, photos and videos.

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Pretti Killing Highlights Free Speech And Gun Rights Tension

By Marco Poggio

The killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and lawful gun owner, by federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis last month brought to the fore a long-standing tension between two constitutional rights that the U.S. Supreme Court has never resolved, legal experts say.

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Floyd Prosecutor, Defense Atty To Represent Pretti's Family

By Lynn LaRowe

The relatives of a Minnesota intensive care nurse killed by ICE agents have secured legal representation from a former federal prosecutor who helped secure the conviction of an ex-police officer in the killing of George Floyd, and a criminal defense attorney coming off a high-profile murder case.

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Feds Fight Cyberstalking Atty's Bid For Pretrial Release

By Adrian Cruz

The U.S. government has asked a Texas federal judge to reject a bid for pretrial release from a currently detained attorney charged with cyberstalking other attorneys at BigLaw firms.

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Queens Defenders Ex-Director Admits Embezzling Over $100K

By Pete Brush

The former longtime head of Queens Defenders copped to a count of fraud conspiracy in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday after prosecutors said she diverted over $100,000 intended for indigent residents and used the money for a lavish lifestyle.

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Senate Confirms Picks For Texas, Ark. District Court Seats

By Courtney Buble

The Senate confirmed two U.S. district court judges, for Texas and Arkansas, on Tuesday.

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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Avanti Law Group

Baker McKenzie

Ballard Spahr

Banner Witcoff

Barack Ferrazzano

Bracewell LLP

Buether Joe

Carmichael IP

Cecere PC

Dickinson Wright

Dykema

Faegre Drinker

Fish & Richardson

Fisher Patterson

Garteiser Honea

Gividen Law

Glaser Weil

Goodwin Procter

Groombridge Wu

Hamilton Brook

Haynes Boone

Jackson Lewis PC

Jones Day

Kuchler & Cotton

Leach & Walker

Loza & Loza

Marshall Gerstein

Maslon LLP

Mayer Brown

Mintz Levin

MoloLamken

Morgan Lewis

Munger Tolles

Napoli Shkolnik

Paul Hastings

Poyner Spruill

Prokosch Law

Quinn Emanuel

Ramey LLP

Reed Smith

Romanucci & Blandin

Schwegman Lundberg

Seserman Law

Sinergia Technology

Skiermont Derby

Smith Baluch

Stone LLP

Ward & Smith

Wheeler Trigg

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Alliance for Automotive Innovation

Amway Corp.

Apple Inc.

Burke Inc.

ByteDance Ltd.

Cato Institute

Central Coast Agriculture Inc.

Chevron Corp.

Cornell University

Duke University

EagleView Technologies Inc.

Everytown for Gun Safety

Gelman, Rosenberg & Freedman

Google LLC

HBI International

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC

Johnson & Johnson

Kopin Corporation

Lex Machina Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Mind Medicine Inc.

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Overstock.com Inc.

Polaris Inc.

RELX PLC

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Second Amendment Foundation

Spotify Technology SA

Stellantis NV

Therapeutics Inc.

TikTok Inc.

Vizio Inc.

Walmart Inc.

Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. Ltd.

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Alaska Department of Law

California Commission on Judicial Performance

Executive Office for Immigration Review

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Food and Drug Administration

Internal Revenue Service

International Trade Commission

Minnesota Attorney General's Office

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

National Labor Relations Board

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Tennessee Attorney General's Office

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Postal Service

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Kansas