In patent law, the doctrine of “assignor estoppel” refers to barring a party who assigned a patent from later challenging the validity of the patent. Assignor estoppel is an equitable doctrine that has been relied upon in order to prevent someone who has assigned the rights to a patent (or patent application) from later contending that what was assigned was, in fact, worthless. The doctrine has been applied to not just inventors, but also […]

In recent years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has seen a substantial increase in the number of trademark applications and registration maintenance filings with fraudulent or inaccurate claims of use in commerce. Although subject to third-party cancellation challenges, inaccurate registrations clutter the trademark register and make it difficult for businesses to adopt and/or register new marks.

Signed into law on December 27, 2020, the Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (“TMA”) aims to improve […]