On 5 November 2025, the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) announced that, subject to legislative approval, fees for patents, trade marks and designs will rise from 1 April 2026. This marks the first major adjustment in years: trade mark fees have not increased since 1998, design fees since 2016 and patent fees since 2018.
Read MoreAt the 2025 American Intellectual Property Law Associate (AIPLA) Annual Meeting, John Squires, Director of the United State Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), delivered a keynote speech that may prove pivotal for future examination of subject matter eligibility. While Director Squires touched on a range of goals for managing the patent office, the core of the address centered on his view of subject matter eligibility for artifical intelligence (AI)-related inventions.
Read MoreFor applicants with a patent application having, or amended to have, a streamlined claim set—one independent claim and a maximum of nine singly dependent claims—the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently launched a new mechanism for accelerating initial review of the application. This Program (the Streamlined Claim Set Pilot Program) is separate from the USPTO’s existing procedures to advance out of turn (accord special status) the examination of a utility application, which includes (1) a petition to make special, or (2) a request for prioritized examination.
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