Event Overview:

On October 2, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a penalty notice on its official website, announcing the termination of application procedures for approximately 3,100 patent applications involving fraudulent signatures. These patent applications contained fraudulent use of registered practitioners' signatures by non-registered practitioners, seriously violating the patent application regulations in the United States.

Event Details:

An unlicensed intellectual property agency, operated by an individual in the United States and named Wayne & King IP, submitted approximately 4,000 patent application documents to the USPTO in the name of a registered practitioner, Jie Yang, without his knowledge. After verification by the USPTO, nearly 3,100 of these documents were found to contain false signatures, most of which were design patent application documents.

Penalty Measures:

The USPTO decided to terminate the application procedures for these 3,100 patents and prohibit the submission of any petitions to restore the applications or withdraw the abandonment decisions.

The submission of application data sheets or any other documents containing claims of interest in the application filing date is also prohibited.

All signature files involving the registered practitioner, Jie Yang, will be deleted.

Event Impact:

This event has attracted widespread attention and reflection within the industry, emphasizing the importance of complying with patent application rules. It also reminds cross-border e-commerce sellers to strictly comply with laws and regulations in intellectual property protection and apply for and protect intellectual property rights in a legal and compliant manner.