Patent Law

USPTO News: New PCT Transmittal and Search Fees Effective in January
By Christopher P. Singer -- In a Notice published in the Federal Register (73 Fed. Reg. 47534) on Wednesday, November 12, 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced new fees for the transmittal and search for international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)...

Roundup of recent USPTO federal register notices: patent agent practice, fees, new rules and more
It's been a busy few weeks in rulemaking at the USPTO, with several notices recently posted that deserve attention.  The notices relate to increases in fees for Fiscal Year 2009 because of the consumer price index, increases for PCT fees (and a correction), the scope of permissible practice of patent agents and changes to disciplinary procedures, the effective date of the currently-enjoined rules on applications with patentably indistinct claims, and the scope of foreign filing licenses, specifically as it relates to outsourcing patent application preparation outside the United States...

USPTO To Increase PCT Transmittal and Search Fees
From the PTO:The Office is adjusting the PCT transmittal and search fees to recover the estimated average cost to the Office of processing PCT international applications and preparing international search reports and written opinions for PCT international applications...

USPTO to implement annual maintenance fee for patent practitioners
In today's Federal Register, the USPTO has indicated its implementation of a final rule to begin collecting annual "maintenance fees" from practitioners registered to practice before the USPTO...

USPTO News: USPTO Announces Revisions to Patent Fees
By Christopher P. Singer -- In a Notice published in the Federal Register (73 Fed. Reg. 47534) on Thursday, August 14, 2008, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that certain patent fee amounts are being adjusted to reflect fluctuations in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for financial year 2009...

USPTO News: Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot with CIPO Is Extended
By Donald Zuhn -- Yesterday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that the USPTO and Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) will be extending the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program between the Offices for an additional two years to January 28, 2011...

Cell Phone Early Termination Fees
How to recover billing errors

Excessive Bank Overdraft Fees
Bank Overdraft Fees alleging excessive fees and misrepresentation of account balances and more.

Sprint Nextel
Early Termination Fees Ruled Illegal in California

Verizon Wireless
to pay $21 million to settle termination fees class action

Immigration Fees
Nationwide Class Action Gets Green Light

Countrywide Financial Corp.
allegedly charged borrowers improper foreclosure fees.

Clearwire Service
alleging poor quality and unfairly charging early termination fees.