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USPTO Implements Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan

By Donald Zuhn, Kevin Noonan, Chris Singer, Sherri Oslick, and Jason Derry

By Sarah Fendrick -- In an effort to reduce the backlog of unexamined patent applications pending before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Office has implemented a procedure that allows small entities to have an application accorded special status examination if the applicant expressly abandons another co-pending unexamined application. In a Federal Register notice issued on November 27, 2009, the Office explains that "this procedure will allow small entity applicants to have greater control over the priority with which their applications are examined while also stimulating a reduction of the backlog of unexamined patent applications pending before the USPTO."...

Full post as published by Patent Docs on December 08, 2009 (boomark / email).