Intellectual Property counsel often face the dilemma of when to file a patent application: as soon as possible, or wait and gather more support? Filing an application “early” helps to avoid anticipatory prior art but if the...more
On February 4, 2021 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) extended for two years the expansion of the Collaborative Search Pilot Program (CSP), which began in 2015 and is now scheduled to end October 31, 2022. The CSP...more
When filing a PCT application, an election must be made of an international search authority (ISA). The ISA, as the name suggests, searches for prior art relevant to the claimed invention and prepares the International Search...more
Recently, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office provided an additional tool for patent applicants to use in pursuit of foreign patent protection. In 2015, the USPTO partnered with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, or...more
As the COVID-19 pandemic progresses, patent offices worldwide are taking steps to minimize negative impacts that patent and trademark filers may suffer. Many offices have asked their employees to work from home,...more
The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program accelerates examination among participating patent offices. The PPH program first began as a trial program between the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Japan Patent...more
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched a pilot program on July 1st termed Collaborative Search and Examination (CS&E) that will enable an applicant to have searching performed by all five of the major...more
Last week, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosted the annual meeting of the heads of the world’s five largest intellectual property offices, commonly referred to as the IP5 (see a related press release)....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
On November 1, 2017 the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented an expansion of the Collaborative Search Pilot Program (CSP), which began in 2015 and ended earlier in 2017, to expedite prosecution of related...more
The process of patenting an invention can be cumbersome, resulting in Applicants waiting several years before their patents are picked up for examination. Various jurisdictions have realized the pressing need to shorten the...more
On April 27th, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office held a Patent Quality Community Symposium at the Office in Alexandria, VA (consistent with its efforts to disseminate its workforce into regional offices, the offices in...more
According to this bulletin from Lee International IP & Law Group in South Korea, Korean patents filed on or after March 2012 may be entitled to Patent Term Adjustment if they issued more than 4 years after the filing date and...more
The grant of a patent can be delayed by years due to backlogs at patent offices around the world. However, recognizing the urgent need to address climate change, certain patent offices have established programs to expedite...more
On November 20, 2015, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched Dossier Access – a public online interface providing access to the file histories of related applications from participating patent offices around...more