By Donald Zuhn --
In a short, two-column notice published on Friday in the Federal Register (76 Fed. Reg. 23876), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reiterated that the effective date for implementation of the prioritized examination (or Track I) portion of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control Initiative has been delayed until further notice. Under the Track I procedure, applicants can request prioritized examination at the time of filing of an application upon payment of appropriate fees ($4,000 in addition to standard filing fees) and compliance with certain requirements (as outlined in a final rule published on April 4, 2011).
While the USPTO's April 4 notice indicated that the Patent Office would begin accepting Track I applications on May 4, 2011, USPTO Director David Kappos sent a message to Patent Office employees, 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" (see "USPTO News Briefs," April 21, 2011). Since that notice, the Director has addressed the postponement on his blog and the USPTO has issued a press release regarding the postponement (see "USPTO News Briefs," April 27, 2011).
The Office's latest notice states that "[t]he effective date for the amendments to 37 CFR 1.17 and 1.102 published at 76 FR 18399, April 4, 2011 (the Track I final rule) is delayed until further notice." The notice indicates that a new effective date will be published in the Federal Register (at some future, unspecified date). Most importantly, the notice states that "[n]o request for prioritized examination will be accepted until further notice." With regard to the reason for delaying the program, the Office explains that it:
[H]as found it necessary to revise its patent examiner hiring plan due to funding limitations. The revised hiring plan does not permit the Office to hire new examiners. With the current level of resources, the Office will not be able to meet the twelve-month pendency goal in prioritized examination applications without impacting the non-prioritized examination applications at this time.
With respect to the new effective date, the Office further explains that "[w]hen the funding limitations are resolved, the Office will issue a subsequent notice identifying a revised effective date and applicability date on which the final rule shall apply."
It's utterly shameful that the patent office has had to suspend implementation of the Track One program. The initiative could go far to increase much-needed revenue for the woefully-underfunded agency, bite into its crushing backlog, help innovators get their inventions to market, and, as a result, reduce U.S. unemployment. And now that rumors predict the death of yet another patent reform bill, it looks like USPTO staff will have to go back to the drawing board in finding sufficient revenue to operate properly. What a disgrace.
http://www.aminn.org/patent-reform-act-2011-s23
Posted by: patent litigation | May 09, 2011 at 01:38 PM