By Donald Zuhn --
In a statement released earlier today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced that it was "carefully studying" the Federal Circuit's "important" en banc decision in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. to assess its impact on agency practice and procedure, and expected to issue guidance regarding that impact "soon." USPTO Director David Kappos noted that the Office would "soon issue guidance to applicants regarding the materials they must submit to the Office under their duty of disclosure." The Office's press release states that "[t]he Court's decision resolves uncertainties in many aspects of how district courts must apply the inequitable conduct doctrine," adding that "[i]t also directly affects applicant behavior in front of the USPTO and, in particular, their disclosure of information relevant to the patentability of their inventions."
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