Insights

Irvine, Calif. – January 27, 2026: John Paik, an intellectual property attorney with more than two decades of experience at leading law firms and technology companies, has joined Crowell & Moring as a partner in the firm’s Intellectual Property Department in Orange County.

Chicago – December 12, 2024: Crowell partner Marc V. Richards and counsel Adam D. Sussman recently authored the lead chapter in the 2025 edition of the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education’s Intellectual Property Law Handbook. The chapter, titled “Patenting Inventions,” covers the basics of what a patent is and what it can protect, and provides a detailed roadmap for evaluating inventions and the process to obtain a U.S. patent.

At the European Patent Office (EPO), a recent referral of case T 873/24 from the Technical Board to the Enlarged Board of Appeal may clarify whether last summer’s decision in case G 1/24 on claim interpretation may be extended to the analysis of Added Subject-Matter. Already G 1/24 is impacting the assessment of patentability at the EPO, but should this referral be allowed, G 1/24’s effect on the assessment of added matter could result in a real shake up of the EPO’s notoriously strict assessment of support. Nonetheless, a review of how we got here highlights the value of late arguments during the EPO appeal process.

[1] In a recent development, the UK Supreme Court ruled that Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are not excluded from patentability due to being a computer program “as such.” In doing so, the Court set out the framework of a new test for the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) to use when evaluating the patentability of computer. The ruling breaks down barriers to the patenting of AI algorithms in the UK and paves the way for a wider change in the UK IPO’s approach to assessing excluded subject matter.

On March 11, 2026, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Squires issued a memorandum (2026 memo) to all Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) users titled “Additional Discretionary Institution Considerations — U.S. Manufacturing and Small Business Use of AIA Proceedings.”[1] In the 2026 memo, the director adds three new factors in determining whether to institute inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) proceedings.[2] The factors focus on domestic manufacturing and the use of these proceedings by small businesses.[3] The memo applies immediately to all pending IPR and PGR proceedings in which the due date for the patent owner’s discretionary brief has not yet elapsed.[4] Patent owners, petitioners with domestic manufacturing ties, and small business petitioners should take note.

Cybersecurity is a key concern for all innovative companies and an incident response plan is critical for any company with connected products. Please join Crowell & Moring and industry insiders on May 8 for a discussion on best practices in incident response as we walk through a timeline of a cyber-attack on an autonomous vehicle. We will respond to a realistic intrusion scenario, strategically minimize vulnerabilities, and address multi-disciplinary points of view and decision-making—cybersecurity, regulatory, transactional, and intellectual property—related to autonomous vehicle technology development and deployment. Learn real time incident response, consider effective strategies, and formulate best practices to reach your end goal and ensure minimal risk to your autonomous vehicle business and investments—all in an informal and entertaining setting.  

Learn basic principles of copyright, trademark, trade secret, and patent law, with emphasis on how micro-entrepreneurs should be advised as they develop their business ideas and confront the need to protect their own intellectual property assets and avoid infringing the intellectual property rights of others. The session will include discussion of the advantages of timely registration, practicalities of various search options, strategies for obtaining federal registration, and issues raised when the micro-entrepreneur’s business includes an online presence.