Sunjeev Sikand Co-Authors IPO’s Comments on USPTO’s July 2015 Update to Section 101 Eligibility Guidance

Washington, D.C. | November 2015 – Sunjeev Sikand has co-authored a 29-page letter and report to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on behalf of the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) in response to a request for public comments on the July 2015 Update to the Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance. IPO said that the interpretation of the patent eligibility case law in the guidance diverged from the narrow holdings of the cases and the views of many commentators and stakeholders, which could lead examiners to reject unnecessarily applications that should be patent eligible. The letter also argued that the USPTO should consider evidence of non-preemption during its initial determination of patent eligibility and should make a detailed showing to support patent ineligibility rejections.

The IPO is a trade association composed of in-house corporate counsel for Fortune 500 companies and intellectual property attorneys. Mr. Sikand currently serves as Co-Vice Chair for IPO’s U.S. Patent Office Practice Committee.