Published on: 09/05/2025 13:07 PM
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Highlights from August 2025 |
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“The father of American literature” was known by the public for his satire, wit, and humorous prose. But Mark Twain also used his keen attention to detail to craft items that solved everyday problems, obtaining three patents over his lifetime. |
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Unswerving irregularity
In the year 1879, following a “misunderstanding conducted with crowbars” at his place of employment, Hank Morgan suffered a blow to the head. When he emerged from the darkness of his temporary oblivion, he found himself not in the Hartford, Connecticut arms factory in which he worked, but under an oak tree, surrounded by a lovely country landscape, and staring down the business end of a knight’s “prodigious spear.”
The year was 528 and this beautifully mysterious land, Morgan learned, was a place called Camelot.
It appeared that the injured man had traveled through time.
Filled with assured self-confidence and knowledge of the “modern” world, Morgan did not keep a low profile while in the past. After gaining the favor of King Arthur himself, the “Connecticut Yankee” led an industrialization effort in Camelot over the course of several years.
One of his first acts? The establishment of a patent office.
“The first thing you want in a new country, is a patent office;” Morgan explained upon his return to the 19th century, “then you work up your school system; and after that, out with your paper.”
Hank Morgan’s belief that a patent office should be prioritized before newspapers or educational institutions may have been a reflection of his creator, Mark Twain’s, own connections to the intellectual property system. For in addition to his legacy as an author of great renown, Mark Twain was also an inventor.
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USPTO has terminated more than 52,000 fraudulently filed trademark applications and registrations
August 8, 2025
On August 6, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued sanctions against a foreign filing firm and terminated over 52,000 applications and registrations connected to the firm.
The firm submitted documents on behalf of others without the proper authority or qualifications.
Read the full news brief
USPTO bolsters secure access to agency systems via multifactor authentication
August 6, 2025
Beginning on November 1, 2025, as part of ongoing agency efforts to safeguard customer information and our IT systems, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will no longer offer email as an account verification method for a USPTO.gov account.
Read the full news brief
Read the latest USPTO news and updates.
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We greeted more than 600 students at USPTO headquarters this week to solve problems through hands-on experiments during the Thingamajig Invention Convention. Thanks to @YMCA for its continued support to provide invention education to young innovators!
View the original post on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
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 We’re in our trademark protection era 🧡
Yes, trademark protection is always in style. @taylorswift has more than 150 registered trademarks – with 20 more trademark registration applications pending.
View original post on Instagram
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 #OTD in 1942, Hedy Lamarr co-invented a “Secret Communication System” that used frequency-hopping to secure torpedo signals. Her invention paved the way for Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth.
View original post on X
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 Back-to-school season is upon us. Classrooms and hallways will soon be filled with school supplies and gear, but in reality, they’re filled with intellectual property. From backpacks and shoes to pencils and binders, they’re all patent protected!
View the original post on Facebook
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 The USPTO is clamping down on patent fraud that threatens the integrity of the country’s patent system – terminating more than 3,300 falsified patent applications.
The agency’s Patent Fraud Detection and Mitigation Working Group terminated the applications and continues to investigate suspicious patent applications.
View original post on LinkedIn
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