Patent Law

The PTO is on a mission to 'improve the quality of the overall patent examination and prosecution process, to reduce patent application pendency, and to ensure that granted patents are valid and provide clear notice.'

To that end, the PTO recently released a Request for Comments (RFC) on Enhancement in the Quality of Patents. [PDF]. The RFC asks for public comment on ideas that the PTO can implement (without changes in the rules or laws or much increased expenditure) that improve patent quality and the quality of the examination process. The RFC identifies seven categories of inquiry:

1. How should the office measure quality of the examination process as well as quality of the final product (issued or abandoned patent)?
2. What stages of the prosecution process should be most closely monitored for quality problems?
3. Are there ways to reduce pendency while increasing quality? (How has the flux of continuations and RCE's impacted quality and pendency?)
4. What pilot prograrms are working: Peer-to-Patent; Pre-Appeal Brief Conference; First Action Interview; CLE for Practitioners? Ideas for pilots?
5. How should customers be surveyed for their information regarding patent quality?
6. Are there specific tools (software, processes, etc.) that the PTO should be using to increase quality?
7. Incentives: Are there ways to provide incentives to both applicants and examiners to improve quality?

The RFC additionally identifies 'areas of particular USPTO interest'

1. Prior Art: How to identify the 'best' prior art in ways that it can be used by an examiner.
2. Higher Quality Patent Applications: Are there ways that the USPTO can help (or push) applicants to write better applications that do a better job of describing the invention and that include claims in the initial application that actually take the prior art into consideration?
3. Comprehensive First Office Action: How can we measure whether examiners are doing a good job in their initial office actions? Are there better ways for examiners to communicate rejections?
4. Interviews: How should interviews be used in a way that improves quality and pendency?

Please e-mail comments to patent_quality_comments@uspto.gov by February 8, 2009.

Read the full RFC here: PDF.