Notice of Roundtables and Extension of the Period of Comments on Examination Time Goals

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) previously announced information for roundtables in Alexandria, Virginia, and Dallas, Texas, to solicit public feedback as part of aneffort to reevaluate its examination time goals. Examination time goals vary by technology and represent the average amount of time that a patent examiner is expected to spend examining a patent application in a particular technology. The Office now is providing information on the additional three roundtables that the Office will be conducting in Detroit, Michigan; Denver, Colorado; and San Jose, California. In addition, the Office is extending the written comment period to ensure that all stakeholders have sufficient opportunity to submit comments on the reevaluation of the Office's examination time goals.

DATES: Written Comments Deadline: To be ensured of consideration, written comments must be received on or before January 30, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should be sent by electronic mail addressed to ExternalExaminationTimeStudy@USPTO.gov. Comments also may be submitted by postal mail addressed to: Mail Stop Comments--Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, marked to the attention of Raul Tamayo, Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy.

    Although comments may be submitted by postal mail, the Office prefers to receive comments by electronic mail in order to facilitate posting on the USPTO's Internet Web site (http://www.uspto.gov). Electronic comments may be submitted in plain text, ADOBE portable document format, or MICROSOFT WORD[supreg] format.. Comments not submitted electronically should be submitted on paper in a format that facilitates digital scanning into ADOBE portable document format.

For more information: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-11-30/html/2016-28689.htm

Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program Available until Dec. 31, 2014

In a Monday, January 6, 2014 Federal Register Notice the USPTO announced an extension of the Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program as follows:

SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO implemented a pilot program (Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program) in which an applicant, under certain conditions, can request a twelve-month time period to pay the search fee, the examination fee, any excess claim fees, and the surcharge (for the late submission of the search fee and the examination fee) in a nonprovisional application. The Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program benefits applicants by permitting additional time to determine if patent protection should be sought--at a relatively low cost--and by permitting applicants to focus efforts on commercialization during this period. The Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program benefits the USPTO and the public by adding publications to the body of prior art, and by removing from the USPTO's workload those nonprovisional applications for which applicants later decide not to pursue examination. The USPTO is extending the Extended Missing Parts Pilot Program until December 31, 2014, to better gauge whether the Extended Missing Parts Program offers sufficient benefits to the patent community for it to be made permanent.

For more information visit http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-01-06/html/2013-31574.htm

Patent Term Extension

The Federal Federal Register Volume 78, Number 163, Thursday, August 22, 2013,Page 52166, contains a comment request:

to extend the term of protection under a patent to compensate for delay during regulatory review and approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or Department of Agriculture. Only patents for drug products, medical devices, food additives, or color additives are potentially eligible for extension. The maximum length that a patent may be extended under 35 U.S.C. 156 is five years.

The complete notice can be found at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-08-22/pdf/2013-20466.pdf