The USPTO has announced a Final Rule which sets or adjusts 296 patent fees for large, small, and micro entities. The Final Rule is effective October 2, 2020, except for a surcharge for non-DOCX filings effective January 1, 2022, and is available at https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/summary-fy-2020-final-patent-fee-rule .

On July 2, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program to speed up patent examination and ex parte appeals. The USPTO expects the average ex parte appeal to be decided within six months from the date a petition to request the fast-track appeal is granted.  

On August 4, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed a district court's infringement finding and its rulings regarding owed royalties, concerning the infringement of two patents directed to LTE technology owned by Godo Kaisha IP Bridge 1 (IP Bridge). In an apparent issue of first impression, the CAFC held that comparing the asserted claims of a patent against an industry standard to determine whether the claims are essential to the standard, is akin to an infringement analysis, and therefore is a fact issue decidable by a jury, and not a question of law that must be decided by the court.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit”™s decision in American Axle & Manufacturing, Inc. v. Neapco Holdings LLC, invalidated claims for a patent directed to a driveshaft. This case is of interest, because the court used the Alice/Mayo analysis to invalidate a mechanical patent.

On July 16, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed a district court's grant of summary judgment against Akeva's footwear patents where the district court (1) construed the claim term “rear sole secured” to exclude conventional fixed rear soles (the accused products) and (2) concluded that Akeva's Continuation Patents are not entitled to claim priority to an earlier patent.