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Support for the New Continuation Rules

...and it comes from the Public Patent Foundation et al.

Not much of a surprise there.

From the Press Release:

A coalition of consumer advocacy and public interest groups today filed legal papers supporting new U.S. Patent Office (USPTO) rules that would curtail abusive behavior by patent applicants and improve patent quality.

In a friend-of-the-court brief filed in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, VA., the groups urged that an injunction blocking the proposed rules be lifted and they be implemented immediately.

...

"The public interest overwhelmingly supports the USPTO's Final Rules for at least two significant reasons," the brief said. "First, they will enable the USPTO to curtail abuses of the patent application process made by those patent applicants who seek to pervert the system to gain an unfair advantage. Second, the Final Rules will help the USPTO improve patent quality, which is a critical issue for ensuring the patent system benefits the American public."

They've got links to the papers they've filed in the press release as well. I've only scanned the brief thus far. Twenty-three pages long, with 8 pages of introduction up front, three pages of signatures on the end, and twelve pages of actual substantive arguments.

Lots of citing to Lemley & Moore. Once again, no surprise there.

I didn't see much there that I haven't already seen argued before. I'll leave it to the lawyers (and ultimately, the Judge) to dissect the actual merits of the arguments.

Full post as published by Just a Patent Examiner on December 22, 2007 (boomark / email).