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Further nonsense at the USPTO

By Johanna Gibson, David Pearce, Jeremy Phillips and Ilanah Simon.

The following should be borne in mind before reading the rest of this post:

"The state of the law with respect to subject matter eligibility is in flux. The following interim instructions are for examination guidance pending a final decision from the Supreme Court in Bilski v. Kappos. These examination instructions do not constitute substantive rulemaking and hence do not have the force and effect of law. Rejections will be based upon the substantive law, and it is these rejections that are appealable. Consequently, any perceived failure by Office personnel to follow these instructions is neither appealable nor petitionable."

The IPKat can now announce that the USPTO, under its new ex-IBM boss David Kappos, has formulated a new set of guidelines (available from Patently-O) on how to deal with patentable subject matter, even though Bilski remains to be finally decided by the Supreme Court. More than this the IPKat is reluctant to say for now as his fur is bristling too much, but he finds it difficult to see how the new guidance, with its ridiculous (and strangely ironic) playschool-type flowcharts, will help in the meantime.

Thanks also to Stéphane Ambrosini for prodding the IPKat in action.

Full post as published by IPKat on August 26, 2009 (boomark / email).