Friday, April 11, 2014

2013 Patent Statistics Available

The Patent Technology Monitoring Team (PTMT) have posted the 2013 general patent statistics report on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/reports.htm. These report updates include PTMT drill-down reports that profile utility patenting activity by technology, geographic origin, and organization.

PTAB America Invents Act Trial Roundtables

According to the USPTO:
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the United States Patent and Trademark Office is hosting roundtables to share information about the new America Invents Act (AIA) trials (i.e., inter partes reviews, post grant reviews, covered business method reviews, and derivations) including statistics, lessons learned, and techniques for successful motions practice. The Board is interested in receiving feedback about the trials and will feature a panel discussion to elicit public input.

The roundtable in Texas will be held on May 6 at the Dallas Bar Association, Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Avenue, Dallas, TX 75201 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm. For a listing of roundtables in other states taking place between mid-April and mid-May see http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/bpai/ptab_aia_trial_roundtables_2014.jsp .

The roundtables are free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-serve basis. No registration is required.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

New Landing Page for Preissuance Submissions

The USPTO now has a landing page devoted to third-party preissuance submissions:  http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/preissuance_submissions.jsp
The October 2012 issue of Inventors Eye explains that a preissuance submission "allows any member of the public (a third party) the option of presenting the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) with information that may be relevant in determining the patentability of a specific application." This new page "features statistics, lessons learned, and frequently asked questions, among many other topics." Since the preissuance submission provision went into effect on September 16, 2012, the USPTO has received nearly 1,500 submissions.