Court Revisits Patent Office Lawyer Fees When Filers Sue - Big Law Business
By Peter Leung, Bloomberg BNA The nation’s patent appeals court reopened a dispute about whether patent filers who contest rejections in district court must pay the Patent and Trademark Office’s lawyer fees. A majority of a three-judge panel in June said that appealing patent filers must pay the lawyer fees, because a statute requires the filer to pay the PTO’s “expenses,” which include lawyers’ salaries. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided Aug. 31, without request from the parties, to rehear the case before the full court. NantKwest Inc. sued in district court after the PTO rejected its patent application for a cancer treatment. After winning, the PTO moved for its expenses, including attorneys’ fees. The district court rejected the request for those fees, and the PTO appealed. If the Federal Circuit sides with NantKwest, it would create a split between patent and trademark law. Trademark law has a provision with largely identical wording, and the U.S. C...
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