Patent Law Weblog
recent posts
- USPTO Announces That It Has Turned the Corner on Unexamined Application Backlog
- 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
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Category: Patent Office Rules & Procedures
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By Christopher P. Singer — In a July 10, 2007 announcement, the USPTO announced that the Japan Patent Office (JPO) will become the second foreign office to participate in the priority document exchange program, as of July 28, 2007. As previously reported on Patent Docs, this program allows for the exchange of priority…
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By Jason Derry — On July 8, 2007, the Patent Office will release the next version of EFS-Web. As indicated on the Patent Office website, the new features associated with the release will make it possible to: E-file Reissue and Reexam applications and follow-on documents; Select Accelerated Examination; Select only from a list…
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By Donald Zuhn — On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it would extend the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program for an additional six months. The PPH pilot program, which the office began almost a year ago on July 3, 2006, allows an applicant having an application whose claims…
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By Christopher P. Singer — As previously reported on Patent Docs, the biotechnology, chemical, and pharmaceuticals technology groups at the U.S. Patent Office held their quarterly customer partnership meeting on June 13, 2007. While the stated purpose of the meeting was merely to encourage dialog between practitioners, patent applicants, and the Office (i.e.,…
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By Donald Zuhn — Last Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing on "Patent Reform: The Future of American Innovation." Testifying at the hearing were Jon W. Dudas, Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; Bruce G. Bernstein, Chief Intellectual Property and Licensing Officer…
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By Christopher P. Singer — The USPTO has issued a notice discussing changes to its Electronic Notification of Outgoing Correspondence pilot program, better known as "e-Office actions." The changes are in response to feedback the Office has received from pilot program participants. The pilot program was launched on December 16, 2006, and is…
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By Donald Zuhn — The USPTO has announced that it is starting a pilot program to determine whether the submission of documents and comments by the public (i.e., "collaborative review") might be useful to examiners as a way of locating prior art that might not otherwise be located by the Patent Office during…
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By Christopher P. Singer — The USPTO has announced that it is simplifying the priority document exchange program, effective as of the publication of the notice. This program allows for the exchange of priority documents between the USPTO and the EPO (and soon, the JPO as well) in order to perfect a priority…
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By Christopher P. Singer — The biotechnology, chemical, and pharmaceutical technology groups at the U.S. Patent Office will hold their quarterly customer partnership meeting on June 13, 2007. The meeting can be attended either live at the PTO or via the web. The topics listed on the agenda for the day-long meeting include…
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By Sherri Oslick — Last Tuesday, May 8th, a session entitled "Developments from the JPO, EPO, SIPO, & USPTO" was offered at the BIO 2007 conference. The speaker from the USPTO was John LeGuyader, a Director for TC 1600. He addressed the KSR decision, and here’s what he had to say: On the…
Patent Docs 