Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Office (“USPTO”) and federal courts may be affected by a government shutdown, which will begin tomorrow if Congress does not enact a continuing resolution to fund government operations today. The federal court system will not be affected immediately. During the first 10 business days…
Washington, DC On January 18, 2013, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on issued final rules setting revised patent fees under Section 10 of the America Invents Act. (78 Fed. Reg. 4211). Section 10 of the AIA permits the USPTO to set or adjust by rule any fee under Title…
Washington, DC. The US Patent Office has released a proposed new set of rules of professional responsibility, completely redrafted from the present professional responsibility rules. The proposed rules would cover patent lawyers in Indiana and elsewhere, and are based on the American Bar Association’s 1983 Model Rules. The Office also…
Washington, DC. Current EPO regulations require that search results from an application, to which a European patent application filed on or after January 1, 2011 claims priority, must be filed with the EPO by the patent attorney without delay after the search results are made available to applicants. See Amended…
Washington, DC. On Thursday, July 26, 2012, the United States Patent Office published in the Federal Register proposed rules and proposed examination guidelines for the first-inventor-to-file provision of the America Invents Act. The first-inventor-to-file provision converts the United States from a “first-to-invent” to a “first-inventor-to-file” system. The proposed rules and…
Alexandria, VA – The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced its First Full Action Interview Pilot Program, which, unlike a previous test program, applies to all areas of technology. Under this program, if an eligible utility patent applicant electronically files a request prior to the first…