European Patent Filings Hit Record High, Surpassing 200,000 in 2025
The European Patent Office (EPO) has published its 2025 statistics on European patent applications (including direct and Euro-PCT filings). Applications rose by 1.4% year over year, reaching nearly 202,000.
Bahrain Eases Document Submission Deadlines for Industrial Property Applications
The Bahraini Ministry of Industry and Commerce has implemented temporary measures to address ongoing difficulties in completing notarization and legalization procedures, as well as delays in submitting required documents within statutory deadlines.
John Osha Attends IP5 Meeting in Seoul
The IP5 Meetings were held in Seoul, Korea, from March 30 to April 2. John Osha participated in a series of substantive discussions alongside members of AIPLA, IPO, BE, KINPA, and JIPA. Our thanks to the organizers for planning and coordinating this well-structured event.
Are Your AI Prompts Discoverable? Recent Cases Every Company and Law Firm Should Know
Are your ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini prompts and responses safe from discovery? Recent decisions shed light on the issue to reveal when your AI chat history can be targeted in discovery and when it remains off-limits. How current rules are being applied to frontier generative AI and what every company, in-house counsel, and law firm must do to avoid an AI discovery disaster.
Do Not Let Unclaimed Functions Compromise Your Means-Plus-Function Analysis
In a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the appellate court reversed a trial court's finding that a patent claim was invalid for indefiniteness under 35 U.S.C. ยง 112(f). The decision emphasizes that when construing means-plus-function claims, courts must focus strictly on structures that perform the claimed function, without disqualifying them for failing to handle unclaimed tasks mentioned in the specification.
New USPTO Guidance Provides Broader Flexibility for Computer-Generated Designs
On March 12, 2026, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published new examination guidance for design patents related to computer-generated interfaces and icons in response to feedback on past guidance that stakeholders believed unnecessarily limited design applications. Comments on the new guidelines must be submitted by May 12, 2026. While the new guidance is not substantive rulemaking, the USPTO has instructed all USPTO personnel, including the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), to follow this guidance even if it is inconsistent with previous guidance.
ASAP!: USPTO seeks participants for six-month old AI Search Pilot
With less than one month remaining in the original Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot (ASAP!) that began on October 20, 2025, the USPTO announced key modifications with respect to timing and fees.
USPTO Adds U.S. Manufacturing and Investment as Discretionary Factors in IPR and PGR Institution Decisions
On March 11, 2026, USPTO Director John A. Squires issued a Memorandum (available here) identifying additional discretionary institution factors for inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings. The Memorandum signals that the USPTO will place greater weight on domestic economic and industrial policy concerns when deciding whether to institute review.
PCT Filings Continue to Rise in 2025
International patent activity under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) continued to grow in 2025, with applications increasing by 0.7% to reach 275,900 filings worldwide.
Oral Proceedings at The EPO: The Drafting of Minutes is Now AI Assisted and Optimized
Following the success of the 2025 pilot project, the European Patent Office is expanding the use of AI for drafting minutes of oral proceedings, not only before Examining and Opposition divisions, but also before the Unitary Patent Protection Division (UPPD), a special EPO body responsible for carrying out administrative tasks related to the Unitary Patent.
