The Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University in partnership with the McCarthy Institute was honored to host the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board for live hearings in the Great Hall on February 23, 2023.

The event was free and open to the public and will include complementary breakfast, lunch, and an evening reception with the visiting judges.  

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is a body comprised of Administrative Patent Judges (APJs) that hear cases in panels of three judges.  PTAB judges hear appeals of patent applicants whose patent applications have been rejected by patent examiners.  PTAB judges also hold trials conducted under the America Invents Act (AIA) passed in 2011, including inter parties review proceedings.  In the afternoon, PTAB panels will hear two separate cases. One will be an ex parte appeal of an examiner’s rejections of a pending patent application and other will be an AIA trial proceeding.

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) is likewise a body comprised of Administrative Trademark Judges (ATJs) that hear cases in panels of three.  TTAB judges hear appeals filed by trademark applicants whose trademark applications have been rejected by trademark examining attorneys. TTAB judges also hear opposition proceedings filed by third parties opposed to the federal registration of a particular mark as well as cancellation proceedings filed by third parties seeking to cancel the federal trademark registration for a particular mark.

ASU Law was pleased to host live hearings in the post-Covid era and is the first law school to simultaneously host the sitting Director of the USPTO, Kathi Vidal.