Continuation and claims rules to publish “later this summer,” will take effect 60 days later In a press release today, the USPTO announced that the much-rumored new rules regarding continuation applications and claim limits recently approved by the OMB will publish in the Federal Register "later this summer," and will take effect 60 days after publication. The USPTO notes that the abstracts published with the OMB reflect the abstracts from […] Continue Reading →
Senate Judiciary Committee passes Patent Reform Act of 2007 out of committee On Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed its version of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (S. 1145, House version H.R. 1908) out of committee by a vote of 13-5. The bill is cosponsored by the chairman of that committee, Senator Patrick Leahy, who issued a press release regarding the passage. As with the House […] Continue Reading →
Patent Reform Act of 2007: moving forward? Today the House Judiciary Committee sent the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145) out of committee to the full House of Representatives for consideration. The amended version (found here, as it has not been updated on the Library of Congress site yet). The controversial damages apportionment provisions are still present in […] Continue Reading →
Office of Management and Budget approves USPTO’s new continuation rules The Office of Management and Budget has approved the two new rules promulgated by the USPTO relating to continuation applications and examination of claims. Apparently the meetings with various groups did not convince the OMB that the rules were inconsistent with the USPTO's regulatory authority. The rules are rumored to be different than those originally […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit reverses claim construction and noninfringement finding In a claim construction appeal, the Federal Circuit found that the doctrine of claim differentiation, combined with statements made in a petition to make special, led to a broader claim construction than that offered by the district court. Also, there was no unequivocal disclaimer of the broader claim scope during prosecution of either the patent-in-suit […] Continue Reading →
200 companies express further concerns over Patent Reform Act of 2007 The hits just keep on coming for the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145). Over the past two weeks, Chief Judge Paul Michel of the Federal Circuit sent two letters criticizing portions of the Act. Before that, a group of Senators noted their concerns with the Act. Just after the Act […] Continue Reading →
Three groups meet with OMB to stop continuation rules from being implemented In an effort to prevent the much–discussed impending rules changing continuation practice and the number of claims from being finalized, there were three meetings held regarding the proposed rules during May and June at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the office that must review and approve all regulations promulgated by federal agencies. It […] Continue Reading →
Chief Judge Michel offers additional thoughts on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 Back when the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145) was first introduced, Chief Judge Paul Michel of the Federal Circuit wrote a letter to Senators Patrick Leahy and Orrin Hatch (the Senate sponsors of the Patent Reform Act of 2007) discussing the practical implications of certain provisions of the bill on […] Continue Reading →
Peer to Patent “community” patent review officially launches The Peer to Patent project (previously blogged about June 7, March 5, and February 28) is now up and running for its one year trial period. As noted previously, only computer-related applications are eligible for this pilot program. Thus far, there are five applications in the system: User selectable management alert format (assigned to Hewlett […] Continue Reading →
Senators express concern over Patent Reform Act of 2007 In a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee (which held hearings on the Patent Reform Act of 2007 last week), several Republican members of the committee expressed reservations about the current version of the bill. The contingent, made up of Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS), Tom Coburn (R-OK), Chuck Grassley […] Continue Reading →