Blog Posts tagged 'USPTO'

The USPTO Patent Prosecution Highway

eyval@patentim.com — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 03:00:00 +0100

The USPTO announced on April 13, 2009, the continuation of the patent prosecution high-way (PPH) with IP Australia. The PPH with IP Australia, dated April 14, 2008, allows an applicant whose patent has been granted in IP Australia, to have the corresponding application flied in the USPTO to be advanced out of line for examination.

The PPH has been extended in order to allow the USPTO to adequately assess the feasibility or the PPH pilot program.

Revised Requirements for Requesting Participation in the Patent Prosecution Highway Pilot Program in the USPTO (Between the USPTO and the EPO)

On September 29,2008, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) commenced a Patent Prosecution Highway pilot program (PPH) with the European Patent Office (EPO), which was scheduled to last for a period of one year ending on September 29, 2009, but extendible for an additional year. A notice entitled "Patent Prosecu [...]

Australia has been removed from the Israeli 17c list

ophir@patentim.com — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 03:00:00 +0100

Israeli Patent Law Clause 17c facilitates quick acceptance of an Israeli Patent on the basis of a similar patent issued in one of several patent offices. The Australian Patent Office has been newly removed from this list, which currently includes: US, Canada, Japan, Russian Federation, EPO, Germany, UK, , Norway, Sweden, Austria and Denmark.

USPTO Issues Clarification Regarding New BPAI Rules (Source: USPTO)

zeev@patentim.com — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0100

The USPTO has issued a clarification on a final rule that amends the rules governing practice before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI), which is to take effect on December 10, 2008. The final rule shall apply to all appeals in which an appeal brief is filed on or after this effective date. However, the Office will also accept appeal briefs in the new format before the December 10 effective date.

The Office recently discovered that several appeal briefs that had been [...]

USPTO Adopts New Annual Practitioner Maintenance Fee Rules (Source: USPTO)

zeev@patentim.com — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0100

Fees will recover costs for maintaining attorney-agent automated system; fund the disciplinary system.

Consistent with its commitment to e-government initiatives and promoting high standards of practice before the Office, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has adopted new annual practitioner maintenance fee rules for individuals recognized to practice in patent cases. The annual fee recovers costs to the USPTO of maintaining the roster of attorneys and agents authoriz [...]

Waiting times for a first office action in the US

ophir@patentim.com — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0100

I'd like to draw your attention to Dennis Crouch's latest posting on Patenly O, presenting an actual estimation of waiting times for a first USPTO Office Action .

I don't know if the statistics refer to all US Applications, i.e. including those filed as a PCT National Phase. As far as I know, Applications filed as a national phase of a PCT Application take longer than Applications originally submitted as a US Application.

USPTO EPO JPO - Trilateral offices move forward on work-sharing (Source: EPO website)

zeev@patentim.com — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0100

The European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) have agreed to move forward on work sharing and to support the recently initiated co-operation of the five largest intellectual property offices (the three Trilateral Offices plus the Korean and Chinese IP Offices, known as IP5).

Meeting at their 26th annual Trilateral Conference in The Hague on 14 November, the heads of the three offices also agreed to contribute t [...]

USPTO Adjusts PCT Transmittal and Search Fees (source: USPTO)

zeev@patentim.com — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0100

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is revising the rules of practice to adjust the transmittal and search fees for international applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). The Office is adjusting the PCT transmittal and search fees to recover the estimated average cost to the Office of processing PCT international applications and preparing international search reports and written opinions for PCT international applications. The new PCT transmittal fee wi [...]

USPTO and DKPTO to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (source: USPTO)

zeev@patentim.com — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0100

PRESS RELEASE
CONTACT: Jennifer Rankin Byrne or Ruth Nyblod
Phone: (571) 272-8400 or jennifer.rankin_byrne@uspto.gov or Ruth.Nyblod@uspto.gov

November 03, 2008
#08-39

USPTO and DKPTO to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway
Trial program to improve quality and pendency at both offices

Washington, D.C. - The Commerce Department's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) today [...]

USPTO and JPO Agree on Enhanced Mutual Cooperation

zeev@patentim.com — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:00:00 +0100

USPTO PRESS RELEASE:

Washington, D.C. -On September 24, 2008, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Jon Dudas met with Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office (JPO) Takashi Suzuki in Geneva, Switzerland. They discussed how the USPTO and the JPO can further promote the existing close relationship between the two offices. They agreed that the expeditious protection of intellectual property rights [...]

The USPTO Announces A New Patent Prosecution Highway

michael.kondoudis@gmail.com — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:00:00 +0100

The USPTO and the European Patent Office (EPO) have agreed to launch a patent prosecution highway (PPH) pilot program similar to the PPH pilot programs between the USPTO and the patent offices of Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Korea, and Australia. An exception is that PCT international applications (including national stage applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 371) are excluded. This PPH pilot program will commence on September 29, 2008, and continue for a period of one year en [...]

USPTO No Longer Requiring Duplicate Copies of Paper Filings That Require Fee Processing

michael.kondoudis@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:00:00 +0100

For those who are still filing by paper, the USPTO announced last week that it will finally be doing away with the requirement for duplicate copies of forms required for processing fees (e.g., an authorization to charge a deposit account). Before Image File Wrappers (IFWs), when paper filing was an Applicant's only option, duplicate copies of fee processing forms were required because the USPTO processed fees separately from the paper application file. Today, however, these fo [...]

USPTO Implementing Continuing Legal Education for Registered Practitioners

michael.kondoudis@gmail.com — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 03:00:00 +0100

The USPTO has developed a system to administer continuing legal education to practitioners. This system, entitled the "Continuing Education for Practitioners" or ("CEP") system, is intended to "increase efficiency, reduce pendency, and improve quality in the patent process." The USPTO states that the CEP system is "built on the recognition that a smoothly operating patent system requires well-qualified USPTO personnel working hand-in-hand with up-to-date pate [...]

A Brief Overview of Current Patent Reform Legislation in the United States

michael.kondoudis@gmail.com — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 03:00:00 +0100

The United States Congress has been debating whether to amend the patent laws currently in Title 35 of the United States Code. If respective patent reform bills pass the House and the Senate, this would represent the first comprehensive patent law reform by Congress since the Patent Act of 1952.

The Senate Bill has been shelved for this session but will likely be reintroduced next year. The House Bill, however, has passed, mirrors the Senate Bill, and includes the follo [...]

USPTO Appeals the District Court's Summary Judgment

mshalem@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 03:00:00 +0100

In August 2007 the USPTO has issued revisions to some of its rules that allow the PTO to implements limits in continuation applications and claims number. The Plaintiffs (Tafas) brought suit against the PTO and challenged the validity of the revised rules.

On April 2008, the District Court has finally issued its Summary Judgment in the case in favor of the Plaintiffs stating that the PTO has stepped out of its authorities [...]

The Beginning of the End? USPTO vs. Software patents

ophir@patentim.com — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 03:00:00 +0100

Prof. John F. Duffy analyses at Patently-O the probable position of the USPTO towards software patents as presented in a series of cases. Specifically, patentable subject matter must result in a physical transformation of an article that is tied to a particular machine. A general purpose computer may probably not be regarded as a particular machine, and data structures and numbers (e.g. webpage rankin [...]