Headquartered within steps of the USPTO with an affiliate office in Tokyo, Oblon is one of the largest law firms in the United States focused exclusively on intellectual property law.
1968
Norman Oblon with Stanley Fisher and Marvin Spivak launched what was to become Oblon, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt, LLP, one of the nation's leading full-service intellectual property law firms.
Outside the US, we service companies based in Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Saudi Arabia, and farther corners of the world. Our culturally aware attorneys speak many languages, including Japanese, French, German, Mandarin, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Farsi, Chinese.
Oblon's professionals provide industry-leading IP legal services to many of the world's most admired innovators and brands.
From the minute you walk through our doors, you'll become a valuable part of a team that fosters a culture of innovation, client service and collegiality.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued final rules implementing the inventor's oath or declaration provisions of the America Invents Act (AIA) on August 14, 2012.
Les Nouvelles - Licensing Executives Society International (LESI)
May 20, 2025 at 13:00 JST, Tokyo Japan
Further to our communications of December 10, 2021 and December 15, 2021, regarding the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)’s transition to electronic issuance of U.S. patents and U.S. trademark registration certificates, the USPTO has now issued a Final Rule in the Federal Register to implement electronic patent issuance effective April 18, 2023.
According to the USPTO, all U.S. utility, design, plant, and reissue patents will be issued electronically beginning on April 18, 2023. The so-called “eGrant” will be the official copy of the granted patent. Prior to April 18th, the USPTO will still mail an official paper ribbon copy of each issued U.S. patent. The USPTO will also provide a “ceremonial paper copy” of issued patents during the transition period at no additional cost to the patentee. This ceremonial paper copy will be reminiscent of the previous paper ribbon copy, bound with a coversheet, official seal, and signature of the USPTO Director, but it will indicate that it is merely a ceremonial copy of the a patent that is instead officially issued electronically. However, the USPTO indicates that Certificates of Correction and Reexamination Certificates will not be electronically issued at this time.
Importantly, the USPTO confirmed that the window of time between the mailing of the Issue Notification and the actual issuance of the eGrant may be reduced, in turn reducing the amount of time that is available for an Applicant to file a continuing application before the patent grants. To ensure copendency, the USPTO advises that Applicants file any continuing applications before payment of the issue fee in the parent application.
More information is available on the USPTO’s eGrants web page at: https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center/egrants and in the USPTO’s eGrants FAQ at: https://www.uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/egrant-faqs.pdf
A copy of the Federal Register Notice is available at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-02-28/pdf/2023-03809.pdf