Source: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=089ce819-57f1-4aa7-85ec-8b0c0881664c
Timestamp: 2019-04-26 14:08:13+00:00

Document:
Whether the phrase “[a]ll the expenses of the proceedings” in 35 U.S.C. 145 encompasses the personnel expenses the [PTO] incurs when its employees, including attorneys, defend the agency in Section 145 litigation.
The en banc Federal Circuit reversed a divided Federal Circuit panel decision and held that 35 USC § 145 does not require applicants appealing to the E.D. Va. to pay the PTO’s attorneys’ fees in the form of a pro rata share of the PTO personnel’s salaries (i.e., “personnel expenses”). NantKwest, Inc. v. Iancu, Case No. 16-1794 (Fed. Cir. July 27, 2018) (en banc) (Stoll, J, joined by Newman, Lourie, Moore, O’Malley, Wallach and Taranto, JJ) (Prost, CJ, dissenting, joined by Dyk, Reyna and Hughes, JJ) (IP Update, Vol. 21, No. 8).
However, in a case interpreting a similar provision of the Lanham Act, 15 USC § 1071(b) (3) (relating to appeals to the E.D. Va. from a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision denying a trademark application), the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit held that § 1071(b) (3) does requirea trademark applicant to pay the pro rata share of the PTO’s personnel expenses in defending the trademark action, win or lose. Shammas v. Focarino, 784 F.3d 219 (4th Cir. 2015). Thus, there is a circuit split regarding the meaning of similar phrases in two different, albeit similar, statutes.
Practice Note: The Fourth Circuit recently relied on Shammas to uphold an award of attorneys’ fees to the PTO (under § 1071(b) (3)). Both the district court and the Fourth Circuit found in favor of the applicant in an appeal from an adverse decision at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board: Booking.com, v. Iancu, Case Nos. 17-2458, -2459 (4th Cir. Feb. 4, 2019) (IP Update, current issue). Earlier this month, in Rimini Street v. Oracle, Case No. 1625 (US Mar. 4, 2001), the Supreme Court, in denying a prevailing party in a copyright action litigation expenses such as expert witnesses, e-discovery and jury consulting, held that the term “full costs” in 17 USC § 505 of the Copyright Act has no special, expansive meaning, but rather is limited to the costs specified in the general costs statute codified at 28 USC §§ 1821 and 1920.

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