Intellectual Property Law

The Office is Hiring Again

Posted on July 15, 2010
Yes, boys and girls, the Office is finally looking to hire more examiners.The announcements are for Electrical/Computer Engineers and Biomedical Engineers.Although the positions are listed on the USPTO jobs page, for whatever reason the positions are not showing up on the usajobs...

The Office is Hiring Again

Posted on July 15, 2010
Yes, boys and girls, the Office is finally looking to hire more examiners.The announcements are for Electrical/Computer Engineers and Biomedical Engineers.Although the positions are listed on the USPTO jobs page, for whatever reason the positions are not showing up on the usajobs...

Bilski Fallout

Posted on July 01, 2010
I'll tell you what, I wish I could write 101 rejections with as little supporting analysis as the Supreme Court did in the Bilski decision. A little discussion of precedential caselaw (Benson, Flook and Diehr), some hand-waving, and the conclusion that the claims at issue are drawn to an abstract idea...

Bilski Fallout

Posted on June 30, 2010
I'll tell you what, I wish I could write 101 rejections with as little supporting analysis as the Supreme Court did in the Bilski decision. A little discussion of precedential caselaw (Benson, Flook and Diehr), some hand-waving, and the conclusion that the claims at issue are drawn to an abstract idea...

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Bilski [or lack thereof]

Posted on June 17, 2010
I was firmly convinced that the opinion on Bilski would be issued today.Why? Well, there are [were] only two days remaining in the quarter (three, if you count Saturday), and I've got more than enough to keep me busy without taking a few hours to digest the decision...

Bilski [or lack thereof]

Posted on June 17, 2010
I was firmly convinced that the opinion on Bilski would be issued today.Why? Well, there are [were] only two days remaining in the quarter (three, if you count Saturday), and I've got more than enough to keep me busy without taking a few hours to digest the decision...

USPTO Now on Facebook

Posted on May 24, 2010
It was bound to happen sooner or later, what with the steady advance of social networking. First the Director's Blog, now the Office has a Facebook page.After perusing the thing for a bit, I have to say that it looks pretty useful. Definitely an easier interface to navigate than the USPTO website, depending on the type of information you're interested in.

USPTO Now on Facebook

Posted on May 24, 2010
It was bound to happen sooner or later, what with the steady advance of social networking. First the Director's Blog, now the Office has a Facebook page.After perusing the thing for a bit, I have to say that it looks pretty useful. Definitely an easier interface to navigate than the USPTO website, depending on the type of information you're interested in.

Changes in Exminers' Hoteling Rules

Posted on March 22, 2010
Hoteling is the program that allows examiners to do their work from home. It is a great benefit for examiners who take advantage of it. It helps out the Office as well, most obviously by freeing up a whole lot of office space on site. This winter, during DC's 'Snowmageddon' versions I and II, it proved a great benefit as hotelers worked throughout the snowstorms, while those working on-site were not able to make it in and lost many days worth of work...

Professionalism

Posted on January 21, 2010
A few days ago, Greg Aharonian of the Internet Patent News Service relayed the following note that a frustrated attorney had sent to Director Kappos:---Dear Mr. Kappos,I have been practicing before the USPTO for 12 years now and have seena lot of ridiculous stuff, but this takes the cake...

Revised Count System

Posted on January 21, 2010
The Office sent an email earlier this week, notifying the corps that the changes to the count system will be taking effect starting on February 14th. (Happy Valentine's Day!)For a while, examiners' production will be tracked under both the old and new count systems, with the examiner being graded based on whichever system works to their advantage...

PTO Calls Former Examiners to Return to the Office

Posted on December 23, 2009
The Patent Office is taking some interesting measures in an effort to reduce the backlog. Last week, the corps received an email detailing plans to offer ex-examiners the opportunity to return to the patent office. From the email:---Faced with a growing backlog and long patent pendency periods in a difficult fiscal environment, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is reaching out to former patent examiners, inviting them to return to the agency...

Limited Time Offer

Posted on November 04, 2009
Effective Sunday, November 8th, the Office's Revised Count System Initiatives will go into effect, except for those initiatives that will require updates to the Office's software systems.Most significantly, that means that the new provisions for the docketing of RCEs will come online...

Director's Blog: Now with Feedback!

Posted on November 02, 2009
The Director has been posting weekly to his blog, on a variety of subjects.Two weeks ago, he posted on the union's adoption of the proposed new count system.---I wanted to take this opportunity to express my thanks to POPA's membership for voting to adopt the changes to the count system proposed by the task force...

Latest News from the Office

Posted on October 20, 2009
A few quick notes about the goings on of late at the Office.The USPTO's new website went online on October 8th.The Office has withdrawn its proposed Continuation Rules Changes. You can read about it at Patently-O and 271. Also, the USPTO's press release...

Partnering in Patents

Posted on October 13, 2009
The AIPLA is in town again this week for their Annual Meeting.As part of that Annual Meeting, they will be holding the 16th incarnation of Partnering in Patents, 'An Open Dialog Between the USPTO and the Bar' tomorrow afternoon.These sessions take place at the USPTO, giving the PTO and attorneys the opportunity to get together and have an exchange of ideas...

The Count System Version 2.0

Posted on October 02, 2009
The Office on Wednesday afternoon notified the examining corps of the details of their proposal for a new count system. The Broad BrushThe new count system includes the following elements:Count System Changes and More Time for Examiners: The proposed changes will give examiners more time overall, more time for a first action on the merits, and time for examiner-initiated interviews, while diminishing credits for RCEs and providing consistent credits for transferred or inherited amendments...

Count System Reform

Posted on August 31, 2009
Well, the Office has kicked off its formal effort to reform the examiners' production system.The PTO sent the following email this morning to its employees:Joint Union and Management Task Force Begins Work of Addressing the Patent Examiner Count SystemOn Tuesday, August 25, a task force comprised of four members from the Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) and four from Patents Management met to begin work on re-engineering the patent examiner count system...

Rejecting is Better Than Allowing

Posted on July 15, 2009
An examiner's job is to sift through the prior art and figure out if an applicant's claims are novel and nonobvious. It should be a completely dispassionate and objective process, driven by only the scope of the claims as presented and what exists in the prior art (speaking in my best Sotomayor-ese...

New USPTO Web Page

Posted on June 11, 2009
The PTO recently posted a beta version of a new web page.I haven't had a whole lot of time to peruse it, but I've gotta say, it seems to be quite an improvement over the current one, which is little more than a list of disorganized links. Not perfect, but certainly much improved...

Q. Todd Speaks!

Posted on May 26, 2009
Q. Todd Dickenson, the once and (perhaps) future Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, participated in a panel discussion titled "A Model Patent Office for the Future -- Promoting and Protecting Investments in Innovation" at the BIO International Convention...

OPQA

Posted on May 15, 2009
It would seem to be self evident that ensuring the high quality of issued patents is of benefit to everybody.The Office has a number of mechanisms in place to ensure the high quality of patents. Among them are the Office of Patent Quality Assurance (OPQA), and the second pair of eyes review...

More News From Management

Posted on April 29, 2009
A couple of weeks ago, the Corps received some more info on the State of the Office, and how the current economic problems are impacting us.Some highlights:At the current rate of patent filings, the Office will end the year down 2% from FY 2008 levels...

Legal Studies Program Suspended

Posted on March 23, 2009
Another casualty of the economy. The examining corps received an email today that the Non-Duty Hours Legal Studies Program has been suspended, effective March 16th. This is the program that pays the tuition for examiners to attend law school.The program has been suspended in the past, and it is no doubt a serious problem for examiners already deep into law school when it happens...

Books as Prior Art

Posted on March 12, 2009
I like books. So much so that I am only very rarely let loose in a bookstore by myself. Otherwise, I will find a book or three that I simply must buy. And truthfully, I've got too many books in my house as it is.Worse yet is when I travel to a city having one of those great massive bookstores...

Patent Debate - RIP (apparently)

Posted on March 05, 2009

USPTO Participating in Virtual Job Fair

Posted on February 02, 2009
On February 10th, the USPTO will host two virtual booths at the CareerBuilder.com Engineering Virtual Career Fair online, from 9AM to 8PM EST. Candidates can visit the USPTO virtual "Entry Level" or "Electrical Engineering" booth to learn about the USPTO and obtain key agency information such as patent examiner vacancy announcements, employee benefits, and incentives...

Duty to Disclose (and Duty of Inquiry)

Posted on December 02, 2008
Dennis at Patently-O recently wrote a post about the applicant's duty of inquiry. This means that an applicant is obliged to actually read the references that they decide are relevant enough to submit in an Information Disclosure Statement. I can't disagree with this; if I have to read it, you should have to read it; this seems only fair to me...

USPTO Resumes Onsite Patent Examiner Interviews and Holds Job Fair

Posted on November 03, 2008
The USPTO resumed onsite weekly interview sessions last week at the Alexandria campus on Tuesdays and Thursdays until March 16th, 2009.The USPTO's goal is to attract qualified applicants who have a bachelors or advanced degree in computer engineering, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, computer science, pharmacology, chemistry and physics...

'The Most Important Part of the Process'

Posted on August 08, 2008
An anonymous comment was posted that included a few points that I felt were worth discussing."The search is the most important part of the process..."I think that you might have a hard time finding anyone to disagree with this statement. When the examiner finds good art, the rest of the examination could almost take care of itself...

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