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USPTO Promulgates Guidelines for Applying 35 U.S.C. § 112, 2nd Paragraph

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

By Kevin E. Noonan -- Last Wednesday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office promulgated "Supplementary Examination Guidelines for Determining Compliance with 35 U.S.C. 112 and for Treatment of Related Issues" (76 Fed. Reg. 7162). The Guidelines, which take effect immediately and apply to all pending applications, "are intended to assist United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) personnel in the examination of claims in patent applications for compliance with 35 U.S.C. 112, second paragraph" as well as assist Office personnel in examining claims containing "functional language" ("means plus function" claims under 35 U.S.C. 112, 6th para.), "especially computer-implemented invention claims,"...

Full post as published by Patent Docs on February 16, 2011 (boomark / email).