We blogged on these decisions here, here, here, here, and here. On October 17, 2025, newly appointed Director Squires issued an open letter and memorandum to the public and to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board), taking back authority previously delegated to the Board to decide whether to institute an IPR or PGR proceeding on the merits. Now, the Director will issue summary notices on whether to institute proceedings.
US Inventor and National Small Business United had filed a rulemaking petition in August 2020 proposing amendments to 37 C.F.R. sections 42.108 and 42.208 that would prohibit institution of IPR or PGR proceedings if the patent owner objected and met certain criteria, including being a small or micro entity who was the original patent applicant and had actually reduced the challenged claims to practice.
The Education Department's current rule-making session, in which committee members are determining how to implement new student loan policies, will be delayed by two weeks if Congress fails to pass legislation to keep the government open, Trump officials announced Monday morning. "There is the possibility-which seems to be growing by the hour-of a lapse in appropriations," one department official said during the rule-making session's commencement Monday. "Have no fear, however," he added, "we do have a contingency plan for that."
My wife and I, our son and daughter, and my in-laws share a single house in the Long Island suburbs. Our place is big, but crowded: all of us have hobbies, and so every shelf or surface contains toys, books, art supplies, sporting goods, craft projects, cameras, musical instruments, or kitchen gadgets. Before the table can be set for dinner, it must be cleared of a board game or marble run.
The statutory language, 'shall issue,' mandates a separate preliminary analysis for public review and comment 'in any case' where the Commission issues a notice of proposed rulemaking and the $100 million threshold is surpassed.
