Contentious House USPTO Oversight Hearing Centers on PTAB Reforms, Trump’s Political Influence; IP Watchdog, March 25, 2026

 STEVE BRACHMANN, IP Watchdog; Contentious House USPTO Oversight Hearing Centers on PTAB Reforms, Trump’s Political Influence

"Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, Artificial Intelligence, and the Internet conducted its first oversight hearing of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the second Trump Administration. The harshest lines of questioning for USPTO Director John Squires during the hearing were reserved for the agency’s notice of proposed rulemaking(NPRM) to reform rules of practice at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) as well as President Trump’s political influence at the agency. During the hearing, Squires also confirmed that the agency’s Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) would soon be revived, following an offer to join PPAC extended last night to an undisclosed independent inventor...

The full House Judiciary Committee’s Ranking Member, Jamie Raskin (D-MD), also hammered Director Squires on President Trump’s influence, raising questions throughout the hearing about the USPTO’s role in filing two trademark applications for “Board of Peace” on behalf of President Trump...

Rep. Zoe Lofgren’s (D-CA) concerns over Squires’ PTAB reforms involved not just the centralization of decision-making authority over IPR proceedings but the lack of explanation for decisions to not institute or de-institute stemming from what Lofgren called “barebones summary denials.” Squires responded that PTAB judges work from a record of more than 600 written decisions, and that controversial reforms like settled expectations have cut both ways in favor of patent owners and challengers. However, Lofgren commented that the 64% of IPRs discretionarily denied under Director Squires was due to the adoption of discretionary considerations and a centralized Director review process acting as barriers that Congress never envisioned."

Arkansas librarians meet for annual conference amid censorship pressures; Arkansas Advocate, October 12, 2023

  TESS VRBIN, Arkansas Advocate; Arkansas librarians meet for annual conference amid censorship pressures

"Library administrators and staff from across Arkansas are gathering in Hot Springs this weekend for an annual conference, at a time when librarians in some parts of the state are under pressure to remove or relocate books pertaining to controversial subjects.

The Arkansas Library Association (ArLA), a chapter of the American Library Association, is a statewide organization that advocates for public libraries and promotes professional development for librarians. Both individuals and institutions in the library profession can be members of ArLA, according to its bylaws.

The organization is one of 18 plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the state over Act 372 of 2023, a law that would alter libraries’ material reconsideration processes and create criminal liability for librarians who distribute content that some consider “obscene” or “harmful to minors.” In July, a federal judge temporarily blocked the portions of the law that would have applied to public libraries, three days before the law was supposed to go into effect.

Supporters of Act 372 and the relocation or removal of certain library content have said no one under 18 should have access to content regarding sexual activity or LGBTQ+ topics.

The ArLA conference schedule includes discussions about the history of censorship in libraries, including attacks on LGBTQ+ subject matter.

The conference as a whole will not focus on these issues, but they have had an impact on librarians’ morale across the state, said Carol Coffey, the ArLA president and the Patron Experience and Library Analytics Coordinator for the Central Arkansas Library System."

Lesser-seen color photos showing the U.S. military in the 1940s; The Washington Post, May 28, 2018

Kenneth Dickerman, The Washington Post; Lesser-seen color photos showing the U.S. military in the 1940s

"In 1942, six months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt created the OWI. While the [Farm Security Administration] FSA was created to depict the hardships that farmers were facing, the OWI’s mission was to foster patriotism as the nation mobilized for war during World War II. In that vein, it served as a government propaganda arm. The majority of the photos that the FSA and the [Office of War Information] OWI produced were black and white and are those that people are more familiar with. The color photos shown here are far less frequently seen."