By Christopher P. Singer —

In the Federal Register published Monday, September 10, 2007 (available here), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published its Final rules regarding certain changes the Office made in order to conform with changes introduced in the April 1, 2007 Revisions to the Patent Cooperation Treaty Procedures.  As previously reported on Patent Docs, the PCT Assembly of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) amended portions of its Regulations which took effect on April 1, 2007.  The USPTO implemented interim procedures to authorize certain portions of these changes until the Final Rules could be enacted.  Importantly, the Final Rules provide: (a) a way for an applicant to request that the right to claim priority be restored in applications that meet specific requirements; (b) a way to insert a missing portion of an international application without losing the international filing date; (c) a clarification about the circumstances in which an obvious error in an international application can be corrected; and (d) revising the search fee for international applications.

September 10, 2007 is the effective date for the changes to 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.57 (incorporation by reference), 1.437 (drawings), and 1.465 (application processing based on corrected/added/withdrawn priority date), while November 9, 2007 is the effective date for the changes to 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.17 (fee for unintentionally delayed priority claim, $1,370) and 1.445 (search fee, $1,800; and supplemental search fee, per additional invention, $1,800), as well as the addition of 37 C.F.R. § 1.452 (restoration of right of priority).

Anyone with questions regarding the notice and these procedures is directed to contact Mr. Richard R. Cole, Senior Legal Examiner with the Office of PCT Legal Administration by telephone (571.272.3281) or fax (571.273.0459).