By
Sarah Fendrick --
In a recent notice in the Federal
Register (75 Fed. Reg. 15689), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) introduced
a new procedure for the review of appeal briefs. The new procedure aims to provide more efficient review of
appeal briefs and to reduce the pendency of appeals.
Under
the new procedure, appeal briefs will be reviewed by the Chief Judge of the
Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) to determine whether the brief is
complete prior to being forwarded to the examiner. By having the Chief Judge determine if the brief is
compliant will allow for more consistency by eliminating duplicate reviews by
multiple parties within the USPTO.
The
Chief Judge's role is limited to determining whether the brief is complete and
the Patent Examining Corps still retains jurisdiction to consider the appeal
brief, conduct an appeal conference, draft an examiner's answer, and decide the
entry of amendments, evidence, and information disclosure statements filed after
final or after filing of a notice of appeal.
Comments