AI Tools For IP Lawyers – Cost Savings – Real World Examples – Human Oversight – Interview With Arthur Rothrock and Nicholas Sarokhanian – EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal Decision G1/24 Regarding Patent Claims – USPTO Discontinuing Accelerated Examination For Utility Patents – Octoberfest Decision of the European Court of Justice – IP Fridays

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IP Fridays - your intellectual property podcast about trademarks, patents, designs and much more

Rolf Claessen and Ken Suzan

100 episodes

1 week ago

This podcast covers intellectual property including trademarks, patents and desgins. It is brought to you by Ken Suzan, of counsel and a trademark attorney at the Minneapolis office of Barnes & Thornburg LLP, and Dr. Rolf Claessen, partner at Michalski Hüttermann & Partner, Germany. We will talk about current developments, record interviews with interesting people in this field, and we will introduce you to helpful tools and websites in this field.

All content for IP Fridays - your intellectual property podcast about trademarks, patents, designs and much more is the property of Rolf Claessen and Ken Suzan and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

AI Tools For IP Lawyers – Cost Savings – Real World Examples – Human Oversight – Interview With Arthur Rothrock and Nicholas Sarokhanian – EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal Decision G1/24 Regarding Patent Claims – USPTO Discontinuing Accelerated Examination For Utility Patents – Octoberfest Decision of the European Court of Justice – IP Fridays – Episode 164

IP Fridays - your intellectual property podcast about trademarks, patents, designs and much more

35 minutes 35 seconds

4 months ago

I am Rolf Claessen and my co-host Ken Suzan and I are welcoming you to episode 164 of our podcast IP Fridays!

Today’s interview guests are Arthur Rothrock and Nicholas Sarokhanian. My co-host Ken Suzan talks with them about AI tools for IP lawyers.

Arthur Rothrock https://www.linkedin.com/in/rothrocka/

Nicholas Sarokhanian https://btlaw.com/en/people/nicholas-sarokhanian

Before we jump into the interview, we have news for you!

The USPTO is discontinuing Accelerated Examination program for utility applications.

The USPTO is currently facing staff-related challenges including a hiring freeze, which seems to just have ended, return-to-office mandates, and potential attrition due to these policies. These issues seem to impact employee morale, potentially increasing the backlog of unexamined patents, and creating uncertainty about the future of the agency.

The USPTO has experienced a significant leadership vacuum following abrupt emails earlier this February encouraging early retirement of all Federal employees, and an unusual level direct outside communication and control of employees from OPM/DOGE.

The first office action pendency for patents increased from 19.9 months in 2024 to 23.4 months in May 2025.

On 19 June the CJEU opened oral argument in the “Oktoberfest” trademark dispute. Munich is defending its EU mark against the EUIPO, and the coming judgment could redefine the protectability of geographic event titles.

On 18 June the EPO’s Enlarged Board in G 1/24 confirmed that claims are the starting point of examination, yet description and drawings must always be consulted for the interpretation of the claims, bringing EPO practice closer to UPC jurisprudence.

Meanwhile representatives of all 39 EPC member states met the EPO in Reykjavík to discuss IP-backed financing tools aimed at giving research-intensive SMEs better access to capital.

Since 11 June, the EPO has also been offering its “Deep Tech Finder” as an iOS and Android app. The application links patent data with the financial metrics of European start-ups and facilitates cooperation between mid-sized companies, investors, and universities.

In this episode of IP Fridays, co-host Ken Suzan welcomes two distinguished guests to explore one of the most dynamic and fast-moving topics in the legal field: Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools for IP lawyers.

Arthur Rothrock, co-founder and CEO of Legion, and Nicholas Sarokhanian, Chair of the Artificial Intelligence Practice at Barnes & Thornburg LLP, join the podcast to discuss how AI is transforming the way intellectual property lawyers work—today and in the near future.

Meet the Guests

Arthur Rothrock is the founder of Legion, a legal tech startup offering an AI-powered litigation support platform. It helps attorneys draft pleadings, discovery responses, motions, and other legal documents. Arthur is also the host of the Legal Entrepreneur Podcast and brings a strong background in legal innovation.

Nicholas Sarokhanian leads the AI Practice Group at Barnes & Thornburg and is based in Minneapolis. He is a recognized thought leader on generative AI, large language models (LLMs),