Ditthavong & Steiner P.C. files S.A.W.S. Class Action Lawsuit

By Ditthavong & Steiner P.C.
Alexandria, VA | April 24, 2015

Ditthavong & Steiner, P.C., files class action lawsuit against the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for its secret administration of the Sensitive Application Warning System (SAWS) program. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

The suit names eVideo, Inc. as the lead plaintiff, and seeks damages in governmental and attorney fees. eVideo’s video on-demand technology is captured by two patent applications that have been stuck in the USPTO for over 13 years. Ditthavong & Steiner, P.C. believes many more of its clients and other applicants have been significantly affected by SAWS, and is actively adding new co-lead plaintiffs.

Since 1994, the SAWS program has secretly delayed the granting of patents on patent applications. The USPTO still refuses to divulge critical information about the secretive SAWS program. The secret nature of the program not only calls
into question the propriety of SAWS, but the vague criteria for flagging applications lack legal and technical merit.

Another key concern is the uncertainty as to how consistently the criteria were applied by the Examiners. “SAWS is fundamentally unjust and un-American,” said Keth Ditthavong, Managing Partner of Ditthavong & Steiner, P.C. “In the wake of a globalized and fragile economy, the US government has done a grave injustice in suppressing US innovation and entrepreneurship for its own self-interest to avoid negative publicity.”

The SAWS litigation team at Ditthavong & Steiner, P.C. includes Joseph Zito, Patrick Delaney, Arthur Steiner, and Keth Ditthavong.