By Donald Zuhn --
Launch of Prioritized (Track 1) Examination Postponed
Earlier this month, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it would begin accepting requests for prioritized examination of patent applications (i.e., the Track 1 portion of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative outlined in a Federal Register notice in June 2010) on May 4, 2011 (see "USPTO to Launch Prioritized Examination on May 4th"). Today, Hal Wegner reported in his e-mail newsletter that USPTO Director David Kappos sent a message to USPTO employees this afternoon, notifying them that "[t]he Track One expedited patent examination program, scheduled to go into effect on May 4, 2011, is postponed until further notice." According to Mr. Wegner's e-mail, "[t]he cancellation is due to budgetary cuts; whether and when prioritized examination may be reinstated is unclear."
USPTO and UKIPO Make Progress on Joint Action Plan
On April 5, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that the U.S. and United Kingdom had made progress on a joint action plan launched in March 2010 "to combat the problem of patent backlogs and their effects on the economy and job creation." The joint action plan is based in part on a study commissioned by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO), entitled "Economic Study on Patent Backlogs and a System of Mutual Recognition," which examined the economic impact of delays in processing patents, and which found that patent office delays stifle innovative competitiveness, drag down R&D investments, and minimize incentives to create, especially for inventions in the hi-tech sectors. According to the USPTO press release, the joint action plan "allow[s] a patent examiner in one office to reuse work done by an examiner in the other office on a corresponding application to the maximum extent possible in order to reduce duplication of work, speed up processing and improve quality in both offices." The plan has thus far resulted in IT system enhancements that have provided USPTO and UKIPO examiners with better electronic access to search and examination reports prepared in each office and the development of resource manuals and instruction handbooks to enhance common understanding of practice in each office.
March 2, 2011 Declared "Federal Holiday"
In a notice issued on March 30, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office indicated that its customer service window in the Randolph Building in Alexandria, VA was unexpectedly closed at 11:00 pm on March 2, 2011 due to a power outage. In light of the window's closing, the Office announced that it "will consider Wednesday, March 2, 2011, to be a 'Federal holiday within the District of Columbia' under 35 U.S.C. § 21 and 37 C.F.R. §§ 1.6, 1.7, 1.9, 2.2(d), 2.195 and 2.196." As a result, "[a]ny action or fee due on Wednesday, March 2, 2011, will be considered as timely for the purposes of, e.g., 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051(b), 1058, 1059, 1062(h), 1063, 1064, and 1126(d), or 35 U.S.C. §§ 119, 120, 133 and 151, if the action was taken, or the fee paid, on the next succeeding business day on which the USPTO was open, that is, Thursday, March 3, 2011 (37 C.F.R. $5 1.7(a) and 2.196)." Good news for anyone who may have missed a March 2, 2011 deadline by a day.
It's also too bad about the delay in opening the Detroit satellite office and the rumored Silicon Valley patent office.
http://smallbusiness.aol.com/2010/05/10/how-to-file-a-patent/
Posted by: patent litigation | April 25, 2011 at 07:27 PM