About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline

LOG IN
LOG IN


35 DePaul J. Art Tech. & Intell. Prop. L [1] (2025)

handle is hein.journals/dael35 and id is 1 raw text is: RENAISSANCE OF INEQUITABLE CONDUCT: LUVN' CARE, LTD. V. LAURAIN AND THE AFFIRMATIVE EGREGIOUS MISCONDUCT EXCEPTION TO BUT-FOR MATERIALITY Katherine Reich* I. INTRODUCTION The sentiment honesty is the best policy carries a figurative weight of an obligation to be truthful at all times, even if lying is the easier path. At the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the PTO), honesty is not just a policy - it's a duty. All individuals involved with the filing and prosecution of a patent application owes a duty of candor and good faith when dealing with the PTO.1 This includes each named inventor, any attorney or agent who prepares or prosecutes the application, and every other person who is substantively involved in the preparation or prosecution of the application and who is associated with the inventor, the applicant, an assignee, or anyone to whom there is an obligation to assign the application.2 The duty of candor and good faith includes a duty to disclose to the PTO all information known to that individual to be material to patentability.3 Information is material when it is not cumulative to information already of record or being made of record in the application, and either establishes, by itself or in combination with other information, a prima facie case of unpatentability of a claim, or * Katie Reich is a second-year law student at DePaul University College of Law, focusing on Intellectual Property and set to graduate in 2026. As a dedicated member of the Writing and Research Staff for the Journal of Art, Technology, and Intellectual Property (JATIP), Katie contributes her expertise and passion for the field. Katie earned her Bachelor of Arts in 2023 from the University of San Diego, where she majored in Chemistry and was a part of the Honors Program. Given her scientific and technical background, Katie is pursuing patent prosecution after graduating law school. 1 37 C.F.R. § 1.56 (2012). 2 Id. § 1.56(c)(1)-(3). 3Id. § 1.56(a).