Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Intellectual Property Law Blogs -> Just a Patent Examiner

Intellectual Property Law

: Just a Patent Examiner

Partnering in Patents

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.

I've attended the sessions in the past whenever my schedule has allowed. I've very much enjoyed them, and found the presentations and especially the comments/questions from attorneys to be most enlightening, helping me to better understand their views and concerns when prosecuting applications.

I only wish that the Office did a better job of getting the word out to the examining corps. I think the average examiner would definitely benefit from getting a better idea of the mindset of the attorneys that are submitting responses to their Office actions, yet I've seen nothing letting examiners know about what will be happening right in their own backyard tomorrow.

I have to admit a bit of disappointment that this year's conference doesn't include the usual 'Pet Peeves' session. It was great to listen to attorneys and examiners talk about what ticks them off, and then get some feedback directly from their counterparts on why it happened. It is kind of like the comment exchanges on patent blogs, but more productive; since it is generally more civil, it makes for a more substantive and less vitriolic exchange.

I'm hoping I'll be able to get there at some point tomorrow, trying to get more insight into attorneys' viewpoints.

Full post as published by Just a Patent Examiner on October 13, 2009 (boomark / email).