This month the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) released updated guidelines for determining obviousness in patent examination – Examination Guidelines Update: Developments in the Obviousness Inquiry After KSR v.Teleflex. The updated guidelines are 18 pages long (probably more detailed than most people other than patent attorneys will want to read), but the last ... [Read more]
Posts Tagged ‘uspto’
CBS News Story: Patent Backlog Frustrates Inventors
Monday, August 9th, 2010
Yesterday CBS News published a story about the patent backlog at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the impact on businesses and independent inventors. According to the article, USPTO Director David Kappos is aiming to cut the average wait time from thirty-six to twenty months in the next five years. To this ... [Read more]
USPTO Patent Examination Initiative Proposes Tiered Three-Track Patent Examination Process
Friday, June 4th, 2010
On June 3, 2010, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has announced a proposed initiative intended to help reduce the backlog of patent applications and reduce examination pendency at the USPTO. Under the proposed initiative, for a patent application first filed in the US, an applicant may request examination in any of the following ... [Read more]
USPTO Eliminates Classification Requirements for Green Technology Accelerated Patent Examination
Friday, June 4th, 2010
In December 2009, the USPTO announced a pilot program to accelerate the examination of certain “green” technology patent applications. On May 21, 2010, the USPTO announced it is eliminating the classification requirement to expanded eligibility for expedited processing. The USPTO announced that: “To date, more than 950 requests have been filed by applicants who wish ... [Read more]
Protect Your Invention and Avoid Scams
Sunday, May 16th, 2010
One of the many useful resources provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office is the new electronic publication InventorsEye. InventorsEye is a bimonthly publication for the independent inventor community and includes articles and tips directed to issues that impact independent and small entity inventors. In its first issue, Ronald Jaicks of the Office ... [Read more]
United States Patent and Trademark Office is Hiring Patent Examiners
Tuesday, February 16th, 2010
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is hiring patent examiners and is actively targeting registered patent attorneys and patent agents for the open positions. The positions are full-time and permanent. Follow this link to view the job posting. The current deadline for applications is March 2, 2010.... [Read more]
Design Patent Examination at the USPTO More Closely Resembles Registration Than Examination
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
According to a recent blog post at Patently-O, a leading patent law blog, based on the review of 1049 file histories of design patents that issued in the past 12 months, only 1.2% of design patent applications were rejected based on prior art during patent prosecution and over 80% were never rejected at all. In ... [Read more]
New USPTO Pilot Program to Accelerate the Examination of Green Technology Patent Applications
Thursday, December 10th, 2009
The United States Patent and Trademark Office has announced a new pilot program to accelerate the examination of certain “green” technology patent applications. The Patent Office’s release is provided here. Effective December 8, 2009, the first 3,000 pending patent applications related to specifically identified green technologies for which a petition is filed are eligible to ... [Read more]
Bilski v. Kappos: Supreme Court Oral Argument Transcript
Monday, November 9th, 2009
Today, November 9, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the patent-related Bilski v. Kappos case (previously Bilski v. Doll). (For more background on the case, see my previous news post regarding Bilski v. Doll.) Although the Supreme Court’s opinion will not likely be written and available until 2010, the transcript from ... [Read more]
USPTO Intends to Launch Pilot Program to Accelerate the Patent Process for Small Entity Inventors
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
At the 14th Annual Independent Inventors Conference on November 5-6, 2009, the United States Patent and Trademark Office announced it intends to launch a new pilot program whereby small entity inventors with multiple pending patent applications will be given the opportunity to receive special, accelerated status for one application in exchange for abandoning an application ... [Read more]
Students’ and Kids’ Pages at the USPTO
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
Recently the USPTO launched an updated website. While orienting myself on the new website, I ran noticed a link to their “For Kids” section – a section of the website dedicated to young inventors. Where was this when I was 10 years old?! The kids section of the USPTO website includes news and events as ... [Read more]
Patent Busting Project Targets Bogus Patents
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
With the Bilski case in the Supreme Court (see my previous news post Bilski v. Doll), there has been a lot of attention paid to what many believe to be a growing number of bogus patents being issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. One organization, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (the EFF), a ... [Read more]
Bilski v. Doll: Supreme Court to Hear Case Concerning Business Method Patents
Monday, October 12th, 2009
On November 9, 2009, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Bilski v. Doll, a case in which the central issue is the patent eligibility of business method patents. Bilski v. Doll appears as though it will be an important case for patent owners, particularly those whose patents are amongst the leading ... [Read more]
