[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 131 (Monday, July 9, 2012)]
[Notices][Pages 40342-40343]
Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-16596]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No. PTO-P-2012-0025]
Extension of the Full First Action Interview Pilot Program and
Request for Comments
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
To view the complete text of this comment request, access
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2012-07-09/pdf/2012-16596.pdf
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is
extending the First Action Interview (FAI) Pilot Program while
completing a comprehensive review of the program, deciding what, if
any, adjustments should be made to the program, and whether the program
should be extended further or made permanent. The program is intended
to expedite disposition of an application by enhancing communication
between an applicant and an examiner at the beginning of the
examination process. Specifically, the program allows an applicant to
conduct an interview with an examiner prior to the issuance of an
Office action, but after receiving the examiner's search results and
initially identified issues. During its review, the Office will
consider feedback from both internal and external stakeholders.
Accordingly, in addition to announcing the extension of the program,
the Office is requesting comments on the program.
DATES: Comment Deadline Date: Written comments must be received on or
before August 8, 2012. No public hearing will be held.
Extension Date: The Office has extended the FAI Pilot Program until
August 16, 2012. Notice of this extension was placed on the USPTO's Web
site just after expiration of the prior extension.
ADDRESSES: Comments should be sent by electronic mail message over the
Internet addressed to: first.action.interview@uspto.gov. Comments may
also be submitted by postal mail addressed to: United States Patent and
Trademark Office, Mail Stop Comments--Patents, Commissioner for
Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, marked to the
attention of Joseph F. Weiss, Jr. Although comments may be submitted by
postal mail, the Office prefers to receive comments by electronic mail
message over the Internet in order to facilitate posting on the
Office's Internet Web site.
The comments will be available for public inspection at the Office
of the Commissioner for Patents, located at Madison Building East,
Tenth Floor, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. Comments also
will be available for viewing via the Office's Internet Web site
(http://www.uspto.gov). Because comments will be made available for
public inspection, information that is not desired to be made public,
such as an address or phone number should not be included in the
comments.