On March 31, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined to review its decision affirming the district court’s award of attorneys’ fees to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), approving the new USPTO policy of requesting attorneys’ fees from applicants that appeal to the U.S. district courts. In 2013 the USPTO broke its more than 170-year-old practice of not requesting attorneys’ fees in ex parte appeals to the US district courts and began requiring appellants seeking de novo review to cover the USPTO’s attorneys’ fees. The USPTO claims the authority to obtain these fees based… Read more