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Highlights from April 2025 |
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“Professor Lowe” was many things over the course of his long, colorful career: a scientist, balloonist, entrepreneur, investor, banker, and founder of a scenic mountain railway and resort in Southern California. Best known as Chief Aeronaut of the Union Army Balloon Corps during the early years of the American Civil War, Thaddeus Lowe was also a prolific inventor who earned 18 U.S. patents for his pioneering advances in ice-making and refrigeration as well as the manufacture of water gas and steel, among other historic innovations. |
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The grandest trip on earth
“What state is this?”
The farmers paused and looked around. Had they really just heard someone ask what state this was? Up here, in a field on the western slopes of the Allegheny Mountains? They were about to resume their plowing when the question came again: “What state is this?” Turning toward the woods this time, the only place they imagined a lost stranger could possibly be shouting from, they shouted back, “Virginia!”
“Thank you!” came the reply, followed by a sudden deluge of sand on the ground behind them. Startled, the farmers turned and looked up. Hovering above them was a 50-foot-tall balloon, its tan Pongee silk envelope swelled with 20,000 cubic feet of gas. From within the wicker passenger basket a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a Victorian frock coat and sporting a bushy black mustache was emptying a ballast bag over the edge. As the balloon rose back into the sky, the farmers threw down their tools and fled toward the woods. Meanwhile, the dapper pilot — who had just as abruptly fled a Cincinnati dinner banquet in his honor to prepare for this flight — drifted further east and south, carried by swift air currents over the Alleghenies and the southern reaches of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
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Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart (fourth from right, first row) and Acting Commissioner for Patents Valencia Martin Wallace (third from right) with regional finalists in the National Patent Application Drafting Competition (NPADC) at the USPTO on April 4. (Photo by Jay Premack/USPTO) |
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Celebrating the National Patent Application Drafting Competition's Winners
On Friday, April 4, the USPTO hosted the final round of the National Patent Application Drafting Competition (NPADC) at its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Hands-on experiences like the NPADC help shepherd in the next generation of intellectual property (IP) attorneys and practitioners, and are key to the success of the American economy moving forward.
By the Office of the Under Secretary and Director of the USPTO | Continue reading
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USPTO announces new group to mitigate threats to the patent system
April 16, 2025
Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced creating a new group to expand the agency's efforts to mitigate threats and protect the integrity of the U.S. patent system.
The USPTO’s Patent Fraud Detection and Mitigation Working Group represents the agency’s continued commitment to limit improper activity in patent applications and reexamination proceedings at USPTO and reduce patent application pendency.
Read the full news brief
USPTO modernization efforts successfully expedite patent issuance
April 15, 2025
Effective May 13, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will be accelerating the Issue Dates for patents. Previously, the time between Issue Notification and Issue Date averaged around three weeks. The USPTO is reducing that time to approximately two weeks, allowing patent holders to bring their investments to the market earlier.
Read the full news brief
USPTO to suspend expedited examination of design applications
April 14, 2025
As part of our efforts to combat fraud and to reduce pendency and inventory of unexamined design applications, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is suspending expedited examination of design applications effective April 17, 2025.
Requests for expedited examination of design applications have surged by 560% in recent years, caused in large part by fraudulent applications.
Read the full news brief
Read the latest USPTO news and updates.
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We have a feeling the De Moulin brothers would be the ultimate April Fools' Day pranksters. The brothers patented at least 19 devices throughout early 1900s designed to surprise. Their devices were created to use in initiations and other rites, according to the patents.
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 When the patent system was created 235 years ago today, then-Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson examined patent applications and inventors paid $3.80 to file their patents.
The U.S. patent system has experienced incredible moments since it was created, when then-President George Washington signed into law the Patent Act of 1790 to “promote the progress of useful Arts.” The country’s founding fathers examined patents, America’s ingenuity spurred the creation of new patent classifications, and granted patents began being published in official gazettes every week.
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 Rappers, pop singers, rock ‘n rollers – and yes, even saxophonists – know the power of trademark protection. Ahead of #WorldIPDay on April 26, we’re highlighting the importance of IP for musical artists. Trademark protections can help an artist’s image and style transcend music.
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 Take a peep at this trademark!
Every spring, PEEPS® marshmallow candies make their way into Easter baskets. But it’s not just a marshmallow, it’s 70 years of trademark power.
PEEPS® owner Just Born Inc. has 45 registered trademarks for its brands including PEEPS, Mike and Ike, and Hot Tamales. Among PEEPS trademarks are Peepsmobile, Peepsters, Peepsfest, and Peepsonality.
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 Some of the world's most famous formulas, recipes, and processes—like for Coca-Cola® soft drinks, the WD-40® Multi-Use Product, and the KFC® blend of 11 herbs and spices—are protected trade secrets.
A trade secret must:
✔️ Have economic value because it's generally unknown
✔️ Be valuable to those who can’t legally obtain it
✔️ Be kept secret through reasonable efforts by the owner
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