In a Law360 article, IP litigation counsel Matthew Shapiro discussed 2025 patent policies to watch.
Regarding leadership appointments at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Matthew said that based on the prior Trump administration’s focus on reducing regulations and improving inventor policy, we can expect less oversight from a new USPTO director compared to the Biden administration, making it harder for patent challengers.
Injunctions are at stake with law governing standard-essential patents (SEPs) that are required to be licensed on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory, or FRAND, terms.
During the first Trump administration the USPTO and Department of Justice issued a 2019 policy that would make it easier for owners of SEPs to get injunctions. The Biden administration reversed the Trump-era policy and drafted an SEP policy discouraging injunctions.
"We have seen the pendulum swing back and forth about whether a FRAND commitment allows you to seek exclusionary relief. We can expect the next administration to revisit this, and we may see this 2019 policy statement come back into effect," said Matthew.
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