Category: Patent Office Rules & Procedures

By Donald Zuhn — Last November, officials from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office indicated that ten notices of proposed rulemaking to implement various provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act were being drafted and vetted by the Office, and that the notices would be published in January 2012.  With January drawing to a close,…

By Donald Zuhn — USPTO Schedules Hearings and Seeks Comments on Genetic Diagnostic Testing In a press release and corresponding notice in Wednesday's Federal Register (77 Fed. Reg. 3748), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it would begin gathering information on independent second opinion genetic diagnostic testing where patents and exclusive licenses exist…

By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the Office of the General Counsel for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a memorandum in response to several inquiries the Office has received concerning copyright infringement and the use of non-patent literature (NPL) in the examination process.  The memo, which was sent by USPTO General Counsel Bernard Knight,…

By Donald Zuhn — USPTO Selects Site of Detroit Satellite Office In a press release issued earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it had entered into a five-year lease agreement on a 31,000 square foot space at 300 River Place Drive in Detroit, where the Elijah J. McCoy USPTO will…

By Donald Zuhn — Earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published four Federal Register notices as part of its efforts to implement the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.  Last week, we discussed the Office's notice regarding implementation of the AIA's miscellaneous post patent provisions and preissuance submissions provision (see links below).  Today, we…

By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published four Federal Register notices as part of its efforts to implement the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.  Yesterday, we discussed the Office's notice regarding implementation of miscellaneous post patent provisions in the AIA (see "USPTO Proposes Rules Changes for Implementing AIA Provisions —…

By Donald Zuhn — Last fall, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it would be releasing a number of a Federal Register notices in January as part of the Office's efforts to implement the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (see "USPTO News Briefs").  On Friday, the Office issued a press release noting that four…

By Donald Zuhn — On December 28, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a notice of proposed rule making regarding certain patent term adjustment (PTA) provisions in the Federal Register (76 Fed. Reg. 81432).  In particular, the Office has proposed that the period of adjustment for applications involved in appellate review begin when jurisdiction…