USPTO Collaborates with the Noun Project

From the USPTO Monthly Review:

On August 28, the USPTO invited the public to participate in its first “Iconathon” at the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Va. An iconathon is a collaborative process where community members work together to create icons that universally represent complex concepts. In this case, designers, students, civic activists, and intellectual property enthusiasts collaborated with Noun Project to create a set of icons representing concepts related to intellectual property (IP). They will be released into the public domain for use by the USPTO and other government agencies and will be available for anyone to use through Noun Project.

Matters Related to First Inventor to File

The Federal Register, Vol. 80, No. 184 (Wed., Sept. 23, 2015) on pages 57346-57347 has a comment request on "Matters Related to First Inventor to File." The Department of Commerce is collecting information with the following needs and uses:

This information collection is necessary so that patent applicants and/or patentees may: (1) Provide a statement if a nonprovisional application filed on or after March 16, 2013, claims the benefit of the filing date of a foreign, provisional, or nonprovisional application filed prior to March 16, 2013, and also contains, or contained at any time, a claim to a claimed invention that has an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013; (2) provide a statement if a nonprovisional application filed on or after March 16, 2013, claims the benefit of the filing date of a foreign, provisional, or nonprovisional application filed prior to March 16, 2013, does not contain a claim to a claimed invention that has an effective filing date on or after March 16, 2013, but discloses subject matter not also disclosed in the foreign, provisional, or nonprovisional application; (3) identify the inventor, and ownership on the effective filing date, of each claimed invention in an application or patent with more than one named inventor, when necessary for purposes of a USPTO proceeding; and (4) show that a disclosure was by the inventor or joint inventor, or was by a party who obtained the subject matter from the inventor or a joint inventor, or that there was a prior public disclosure by the inventor or a joint inventor, or by a party who obtained the subject matter from the inventor or a joint inventor.

For more information: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-23/html/2015-24144.htm

Collaboration Search Pilot Program - USPTO with JPO (Japan) and with KIPO (Korea)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has signed an agreement with the Japan Patent Office (JPO) and a second with the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) to launch the Collaboration Search Pilot Program (CSP). The purpose of this pilot is to provide stakeholders with search results from two offices early in the examination process so the applicant can determine their next steps in patent prosecution. Once a petition has been granted by both offices, the application will be accelerated in both offices allowing for faster prosecution.

The pilot program will run for two years. The JPO Pilot began August 1, 2015 and the KIPO Pilot September 1, 2015.

For more information, please see the CSP website at http://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/international-protection/collaborative-search-pilot-program-csp or email CSP@USPTO.GOV.

Streamlined, Expedited Patent Appeal Pilot for Small Entities

The Federal Register Vol. 80, No. 178 (Tues., Sept. 15, 2015) on pages 55339-55341 contains the following notice:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has a procedure under which an application will be advanced out of turn (accorded special status) for examination if the applicant files a petition to make special with the appropriate showing. The USPTO is providing a temporary basis (the Streamlined, Expedited Patent Appeal Pilot for Small Entities) under which a small or micro entity appellant may have an ex parte appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) accorded special status if the appellant has only a single appeal pending before the Board and the appellant agrees to streamline the appeal. Specifically, the appeal must not involve any claim subject to a rejection for lack of written description, enablement, or best mode, or for indefiniteness, and the appellant must agree to the disposition of all claims subject to each ground of rejection as a single group and waive any request for an oral hearing. The Streamlined, Expedited Patent Appeal Pilot for Small Entities will allow small or micro entity appellants who streamline their appeals to have greater control over the priority with which their appeals are decided.

DATES: Effective Date: September 18, 2015.

Duration: The Streamlined, Expedited Patent Appeal Pilot for Small Entities is being adopted on a temporary basis and [[Page 55340]] will run until two thousand (2,000) appeals have been accorded special status under the pilot, or until September 16, 2016, whichever occurs earlier.

See the complete notice at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2015-09-15/html/2015-23090.htm

Partnering in Patents Meeting

Message from the USPTO:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is pleased to announce that the Software Partnership has joined with Partnering in Patents for the next meeting on October 21, 2015 to be held on its Alexandria, VA campus. The meeting is an all-day event including a morning interactive focus session and an afternoon lecture program/discussion session. The morning focus session will be held from 9:00 am – 11:00 am and will feature an interactive group discussion on tools for quality enhancements. The afternoon program will run from 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm with discussion topics including USPTO initiatives, functional claiming, 35 U.S.C. § 101 and patent quality.

Partnering in Patents is a collaboration between the USPTO and the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) Electronics and Computer Law Committee. The Software Partnership provides opportunities to bring stakeholders together to share ideas, experiences and insights and serves as a forum for an informal discussion of many topics specific to the software community. This joint meeting will provide an opportunity to advance the conversation about improving examination of software related patents. Members of the public are invited to attend each session.

Discussion of the program topics and additional ideas from the public will be solicited during the meeting. While public attendees will be offered the opportunity to provide input, group consensus advice will not be sought.

Additional information on both sessions can be found at the AIPLA Partnering in Patents webpage http://www.aipla.org/learningcenter/AM15/Pages/2014PIP.aspx. There is no cost to attend the meeting. However, if CLE credit is sought there is a $100 administrative fee, and advance registration is required.

DATE AND LOCATION: The Partnership Meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at the USPTO Madison Auditorium North, Concourse Level, Madison Building, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. The focus session will be held from 9:00 am – 11:00 am. The afternoon program will run from 12:00 pm – 4:00 pm and will be accessible via WebEx.

Requests for Attendance at the Partnership Meeting:

To register for attendance to the joint meeting of Partnering in Patents and the Software Partnership please complete the registration form at the link below. Please indicate on your registration form whether you will participate in the morning focus session. Onsite registration will be permitted on a space available basis.

http://www.aipla.org/learningcenter/AM15/Documents/Partnering%20in%20Patents%202015.docx.

The completed registration form should be returned to AIPLA at:

Email: rvilaychith@aipla.org

Fax: 703.415.0786

Mail: AIPLA c/o Meetings, 241 18th St. S., Suite 700, Arlington, VA 22202

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Seema S. Rao by telephone at (571) 272-0800 or via email to seema.rao@uspto.gov.