By Christopher P. Singer --
In a Notice published in the Federal Register (74 Fed. Reg. 28473) on Tuesday, June 16, 2009, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced an additional public comment period relating to a potential deferred patent examination pathway. This additional period for submitting comments expires on August 31, 2009. As readers will likely recall, the USPTO held a roundtable discussion back in February to assess whether the patent community had a general interest in establishing a deferred examination pathway in the U.S., and to discuss potential issues relating to implementing deferred examination. Following the roundtable, the USPTO solicited public comment regarding deferred examination and the issues that were raised during the discussion. That period for comment expired on May 29, 2009. Comments submitted during the initial period can be found here.
The additional comment period specified in Tuesday's Notice is to allow for further comments on any issue relating to deferred examination, as well as to allow for reply and commentary to the comments submitted during the initial comment period. Comments can be submitted electronically to [email protected], or by regular mail to: Mail Stop Comments – Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, marked to the attention of Robert W. Bahr. These comments will also be made available for public review.
• "USPTO Posts Comments on Deferred Examination," June 11, 2009
• "Patent Office Extends Deferred Examination Comment Period," March 9, 2009
• "Comments on Deferred Examination Due by February 26th," February 23, 2009
• "Patent Office Hosts Roundtable on Deferred Examination: The Proponents," February 15, 2009
• "Patent Office Hosts Roundtable on Deferred Examination: The Opposition," February 12, 2009
• "Patent Office Announces Agenda and Participants for Deferred Examination Roundtable," February 9, 2009
• "USPTO Schedules Roundtable Discussion on Deferred Examination," January 27, 2009
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