The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced plans for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to extend the Motion to Amend (MTA) pilot program. This program provides additional options for a patent owner who files an MTA in a trial proceeding under the America Invents Act (AIA).

The MTA pilot program will run until September 16, 2022. The USPTO may extend the program (with or without modification) on either a temporary or a permanent basis, or may discontinue the program after that date.

The USPTO has presented preliminary results of the MTA pilot program and continues to track data related to MTAs. The most recent information and statistics related to MTAs are available on the USPTO’s website.

The full text of the notice is available in the Federal Register.