Patent Law Weblog
recent posts
- Reasons for the PTAB’s Priority Determination in Broad’s Favor (Perhaps)
- Mexico Publishes Amendments to Intellectual Property Law
- PTAB (Again) Awards Priority of Invention to Broad in Interference No. 106,115
- Argentina Repeals Pharmaceutical Patent Examination Guidelines
- USPTO Moves to Protect Design Rights for Digital Innovations
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Category: Patent Office Rules & Procedures
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it would begin accepting requests for prioritized examination of patent applications on May 4, 2011. The program was initially announced as part of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative (or Three Track program) last June (see "USPTO Publishes Notice Regarding Enhanced…
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By Donald Zuhn — In a notice of proposed rulemaking published in today's Federal Register (76 Fed. Reg. 18990), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced a proposal to revise the patent term adjustment (PTA) and patent term extension (PTE) provisions of the patent rules. In particular, the Office is proposing changes to the PTA…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it would be offering relief to persons affected by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck about 250 miles northeast of Tokyo on March 11 and the resulting tsunami. In particular, the Office stated that it would withdraw and reissue any outstanding Office…
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By Donald Zuhn — USPTO and IMPI Establish Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) Pilot Program On Friday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was establishing a new Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program with the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI). As with other PPH programs, the new PPH pilot will permit an…
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By Kevin E. Noonan — Last Wednesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office promulgated "Supplementary Examination Guidelines for Determining Compliance with 35 U.S.C. 112 and for Treatment of Related Issues" (76 Fed. Reg. 7162). The Guidelines, which take effect immediately and apply to all pending applications, "are intended to assist United States Patent and Trademark…
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By Donald Zuhn — On February 4, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and European Patent Office announced that the two offices had reached agreement on the principles of a new joint patent classification system known as the Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC). The desire to develop a joint classification system was first announced last fall…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office provided additional details regarding its proposed "Three Track" patent examination initiative. An outline of the Office's Three Track program, or Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative, was originally provided in a Federal Register notice (75 Fed. Reg. 31763) published last June (see "USPTO Publishes…
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By Donald Zuhn — USPTO and IPAU Extend PPH and Agree to New PCT-PPH Programs Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and IP Australia (IPAU) announced that the two offices had agreed to extend their existing pilot bilateral Paris Convention Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) agreement and enter into a new PPH pilot agreement utilizing…
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By Donald Zuhn — USPTO Implements New Peer Review Pilot Program In a notice published earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the launch of a new one-year pilot program intended to test the scalability of its peer review program, in which the public can submit documents and comments that might be…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it will be implementing an Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program that "will effectively provide a 12-month extension to the existing 12-month provisional application period, providing applicants additional time to find financial help, evaluate a product's worth in the marketplace or further…
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