In a May 10, 2024, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM), the USPTO proposed sweeping changes in the rules governing the filing of terminal disclaimers. If the USPTO implements the proposed changes, entire patent families could be wiped out if just one claim of one patent in the family is found invalid over prior art. Patent owners could have a lot more to worry about than just preserving common ownership of terminally disclaimed patents. The public hue and cry thus far have been significant. Here, we discuss why.