The USPTO has announced a further delay of the fee for patent applications that are not filed in DOCX format. Originally set to take effect January 1, 2022, and then delayed to January 1, 2023, the USPTO now has delayed the...more
The USPTO has issued a Federal Register Notice soliciting comments on “proposed initiatives directed at bolstering the robustness and reliability of patents to incentivize and protect new and nonobvious inventions while...more
The USPTO Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) rules include a “safe harbor” that avoids a PTA deduction for “Applicant delay” for Information Disclosure Statements that are accompanied by a certain statement averring that the items...more
In a Federal Register Notice published January 6, 2022, the USPTO announced a new pilot program that will permit certain applicants to temporarily defer responding to subject matter eligibility (“SME”) rejections. The program...more
In an unusual Federal Register Notice, the USPTO “reminded” applicants that “patent applications must properly present examples in a manner that clearly distinguishes between prophetic examples that describe predicted...more
The doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting is one of the most complicated and most confounding aspects of U.S. patent law. Although a Terminal Disclaimer can overcome most obviousness-type double patenting rejections,...more
The USPTO has published proposed guidelines on the types of courses and activities that will qualify for USPTO CLE credit, which practitioners may voluntarily report in the mandatory biennial registration statements that will...more
In an effort to both promote innovation against COVID-19 and promote dissemination of information about innovation against COVID-19, the USPTO is launching a new “deferred fee” pilot program for certain provisional patent...more
9/18/2020
/ Certifications ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Federal Register ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Investigational Device Exemptions ,
Investigational New Drug Application (IND) ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter ,
Pilot Programs ,
Premarket Approval Applications ,
USPTO
In a Federal Register Notice dated August 3, 2020, the USPTO published a final rule on fee changes that take effect October 2, 2020. The final rule implements fee changes we first learned about in August of 2018, with some...more
The USPTO has initiated a new pilot program for expediting ex parte appeals from examiner rejections. Under the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program, applicants can pay $400 for expedited review in which case the USPTO will...more
As set forth in this March 2, 2020 Federal Register Notice and effective immediately, the USPTO is going to start inquiring into petitions to revive an abandoned application, accept a delayed maintenance fee payment, or...more
In Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, LLC, the Federal Circuit affirmed decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that invalidated seven Orange Book-listed patents for Xyrem®. The main issue on...more
As announced in this October 30, 2017 Federal Register notice, the USPTO is expanding the Collaborative Search Pilot Program under which applicants can request that multiple intellectual property offices exchange search...more
11/9/2017
/ Collaboration ,
Expedited Approval Process ,
Federal Register ,
Foreign Patent Applications ,
Information Disclosure Statement ,
Japan ,
KIPO ,
Korea ,
Patent Applications ,
Patents ,
USPTO ,
USPTO Pilot Program
More than five years after the Federal Circuit’s en banc decision in Therasense and its first proposed rulemaking under that decision, the USPTO has issued a new proposed rulemaking to adapt its duty of disclosure rule (37...more
In a September 15, 2015 Federal Register Notice, the USPTO announced a pilot program that will permit certain Small or Micro Entities to expedite a pending ex parte appeal. According to the Notice, the USPTO aims to decide...more
9/18/2015
/ Appeals ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Ex Parte ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Register ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
USPTO ,
Young Lawyers
The USPTO has launched two new programs aimed at improving patent quality by joining forces with the Japanese Patent Office (JPO) or the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) at the initial stages of the patent...more
9/16/2015
/ Collaboration ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Register ,
Foreign Patent Applications ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Japan ,
JPO ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Examinations ,
Patentability Search ,
Patents ,
Popular ,
South Korea ,
USPTO
Since the implementation of the America Invents Act on September 16, 2012, and the Technical Corrections Act on January 14, 2013, Applicants have been able to delay submission of an executed inventors’ oath/declaration in a...more
In a June 15, 2015 Federal Register Notice, the USPTO announced the Expedited Patent Appeal Pilot program, which will run until 2,000 ex parte patent appeals are expedited under the program, or until June 20, 2016, whichever...more