USPTO Continues to Modify System for Calculating PTA

    By Jori Fuller --
 
As some practitioners and applicants may have noticed, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has begun sending out decisions on Requests for Recalculation of PTA in view of the Federal Circuit's decision in Wyeth v. Kappos.  These decisions include a newly calculated PTA in view of Wyeth, and also include a Notice of Intent to Issue a Certificate of Correction.  Some practitioners and applicants may have also noticed that a few of the Office's recalculation decisions have been incorrect.  This is because the PTO has been improperly subtracting too much time for reductions under 37 C.F.R. § 1.704(c)(10) (an amendment after allowance under 37 C.F.R. § 1.312 or other paper submitted after allowance).  Fortunately, the PTO has recently discovered this error in the processing of recalculation decisions and has been sending out Notices informing the patentees of its mistake.  These notices include a new, corrected calculation of PTA which gives the patent a greater PTA than the previous notice, as well as a Notice of Intent to Issue a Certificate of Correction.

Comments

[General Admission]

Jori -
Nice post! Glad to see another Patent Docs contributor joining the ranks. Is the error just a miscalculation that might occur when 1.704(c)(10) deductions are made, or does it apply to a certain AF submission(s)?

I think we are all left to wonder whether PTA will ever be a smoothly executed proposition, or if it will always be an albatross for patentees/practitioners.