English
Post Grant Expectations For 2011
Change on the Horizon for 2011
With 2010 coming to a close, we can look back and see many positive changes at the USPTO. Ex parte and inter partes appeal brief processing has been streamlined, new user friendly BPAI appeal rules are proposed, new pilot programs are being introduced, and the pendency of reexamination proceedings is slowly improving. (I will post a podcast next week going through the full 2010 retrospective, so cancel those holiday plans!)
Looking forward to 2011 there is still significant uncertainty as to the status of patent reform, at least the kind expected from Congress. Will this be the year that something….anything…..comes out of Congress? Patent Reform is still on the minds of Congress, perhaps more so than in past years as it has the potential to be sold as a no-cost economic stimulus. Yet, courts and the USPTO continue to drive the real change in U.S. patent law, especially as it relates to post grant practice before the USPTO.
So, what can we look forward to in 2011?
Aside from the never ending patent reform drama, the CAFC is slated to decide three important patent reissue cases this year, In re Tanaka, In re Staats, and In re Mostafazadeh. Further, CAFC guidance on the inequitable conduct standard is imminent in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton Dickinson and Co. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is considering perhaps the most important patent litigation case since Festo in i4i Limited Partnership and Infrastructures for Information Inc v. Microsoft Corp.
Finally, and perhaps of most interest to me, the USPTO is working on a new rules package to overhaul aspects of patent reexamination and patent reissue practice. Read the rest of this entry »
In a teleconference with reporters on Thursday, December 16, 2010, Commerce Secretary Gary Locke – whose department includes the Patent Office – announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will open its first-ever satellite office in Detroit in the summer of 2011. Also during this teleconference, it was stated that Detroit will be the first in what could be a few satellite offices scattered around the country (Denver is known to be making a strong push for a satellite office). The objective of the satellite offices is to increase retention of the examining corps, as well as to increase the number of examiners, as the Office attempts to decrease the ever-increasing backlog of pending patent applications. According to the Associated Press, officials said Detroit was chosen because of the area’s high percentage of scientists and engineers — many with auto industry background — and the region’s major research universities. Alternatively, PTO insiders indicate that Detroit already has a Department of Commerce facility that helps sidestep congressional red tape. (besides, no point having examiners distracted by competitive baseball and football teams, works in DC after all) 
