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 month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot programs had been established with the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (SPTO), the Austrian Patent Office (APO), and the Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks (ROSPATENT). The PPH pilot program with ROSPATENT, which…
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By Donald Zuhn — On Monday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced via a press release and a notice in the Federal Register (75 Fed. Reg. 57261) that it is seeking comments regarding a proposal for incentivizing the creation and wider distribution of humanitarian technologies. In the notice, the Office states that it has…
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By Donald Zuhn — On Wednesday, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos announced that the USPTO was instituting a Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP) that would formalize the process by which the Office seeks public assistance in providing technical training to patent examiners. The new program is intended to provide scientists and…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued an update to its obviousness guidelines, publishing a notice in the Federal Register (75 Fed. Reg. 53644) that highlights case law developments on obviousness since the Supreme Court's 2007 decision in KSR Int'l Co. v. Teleflex Inc. The update supplements the Office's…
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By James DeGiulio — On June 4, in an effort to address the application backlog and its alleged negative impact on innovation, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a notice concerning an Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative (75 Fed. Reg. 31763). The initiative would, among other provisions, create three examination tracks: an accelerated examination…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced a change in the way registered practitioners can show authorization to participate in an examiner interview. Under the old procedure, practitioners were required to file a power of attorney or authorization to act in a representative capacity in order to participate in…
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By Donald Zuhn — USPTO and ROSPATENT Begin Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program On Monday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it had agreed to partner with the Federal Service for Intellectual Property, Patents and Trademarks of the Russian Federation (ROSPATENT) in establishing a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program. As with other…
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By James DeGiulio — Earlier this summer, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos announced a proposal for a three-tiered patent prosecution regime that could be instituted in the Office (see "USPTO Director Announces New Examination Options"). The new regime will provide for an accelerated examination track, a standard (status quo) track, and a…
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By Donald Zuhn — In June, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register (75 Fed. Reg. 33584) seeking comments regarding a number of changes to current restriction practice that the Office is considering implementing (see "USPTO Requests Comments Regarding Proposed Changes to Restriction Practice"). Last week, the Intellectual Property…
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By Sarah Fendrick — The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently launched an official page on Facebook that will provide regular updates from the Office and provide a public forum for comments, feedback, and discussion pertaining to issues at the USPTO. In a press release, USPTO Director David Kappos said that he was "confident our…
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