In an email News Brief distributed today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reminded stakeholders that starting at 12:01 am (ET) on January 17, the filing of new, non-provisional utility patent applications with...more
Patent Center to Replace EFS-Web and Private PAIR in November -
In a press release issued last month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that the Patent Center system will fully replace the EFS-Web system and...more
In a final rule published in the Federal Register (88 Fed. Reg. 12560) last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it will start issuing patents electronically under a new digital USPTO seal and bearing the...more
After reflecting upon the events of the past twelve months, Patent Docs presents its 16th annual list of top patent stories. For 2022, we identified ten stories that were covered on Patent Docs last year that we believe had...more
Last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a Notice advising Applicants to review filing receipts issued between March 2022 and mid-October 2022 to confirm that the granted foreign filing license notification has...more
In a Patent Alert email distributed to stakeholders last month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the replacement of four legacy search tools -- the Public-Examiner's Automated Search Tool (PubEAST),...more
Earlier this month, the Federal Circuit affirmed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, finding that the USPTO did not...more
Earlier today, the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) published their annual list of the top 100 worldwide universities that received the most U.S. utility patents...more
USPTO Launches Webpage on PTE Applications and Patent Terms Extended under 35 U.S.C. § 156 -
In a Patent Alert email distributed to stakeholders last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the launch of a...more
In a notice published last week in the Federal Register (87 Fed. Reg. 33750), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the implementation of the Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program, "which is designed to positively...more
In a notice published last week in the Federal Register (87 Fed. Reg. 25226), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it will allow Applicants to submit an applicant-generated PDF version of applications filed in...more
USPTO Launches New Patent Search Tool -
In a press release issued earlier this year, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced the launch of a new Patent Public Search tool. The Office notes that the new patent...more
Last month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released its Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY 2021). The Report notes that in 2018 the Office issued its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan, which...more
Updated First Office Action Estimator Tool Now Available -
In a Patent Alert email distributed earlier today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that an updated First Office Action Estimator online tool is now...more
USPTO Proposes Electronic Issuance of Patents -
In a notice of proposed rulemaking published last month in the Federal Register (86 Fed. Reg. 71209), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is proposing to issue patents...more
1/3/2022
/ Comment Period ,
Electronic Filing ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Online Platforms ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Filings ,
Patent Registration ,
Patents ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
USPTO
USPTO Delays Fee for Failure to File Applications in DOCX Format -
In a notice published in the Federal Register earlier today (86 Fed. Reg. 66192), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was delaying the...more
Last month, the Federal Circuit affirmed the final determination by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeal Board affirming the Examiner's rejection of certain claims in U.S. Patent Application No....more
In an e-mail News Brief distributed last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reported on the participation to date in its COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program. The pilot program, which was implemented last...more
Earlier this month, in Sherwin-Williams Co. v. PPG Industries, Inc., Special Master Henry M. Sneath issued a Report and Recommendation in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania that a motion by...more
11/24/2020
/ Expert Testimony ,
Expert Witness ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution History ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Prior Art ,
Prosecution History Estoppel ,
USPTO
In a Decision on Petition issued in April, and signed by Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy Robert W. Bahr, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office refused to vacate a Notice to File Missing Parts of...more
8/20/2020
/ Administrative Procedure ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
European Patent Office ,
Inventors ,
Natural Person Requirement ,
Notice to Vacate ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Ownership ,
Patents ,
UK Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) ,
USPTO
In a notice published in the Federal Register last month (85 Fed. Reg. 39888), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was initiating a Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program, to provide for the advancement of...more
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patent Offices -
In a notice posted on its website yesterday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was further extending the time to pay certain required fees, but only for...more
Last week, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu sent a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate and House Committees on the Judiciary, Senate Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, and House...more
Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Patent Offices – June 14 Update -
In a notice posted on its website on Thursday, June 11, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was extending the time period for petitioning...more
USPTO and JPO Issue Joint Message -
Yesterday, Director Andrei Iancu of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Commissioner Akira Matsunaga of the Japan Patent Office issued a joint message to express the Offices' "most...more