On January 29, 2010, the USPTO began participating in a new Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program with the European and Japanese Patent Offices, in their capacities as PCT International Searching and/or Preliminary Examining Authorities. Under this new PCT-PPH program, certain PCT work product from either of these patent authorities acting in its PCT capacity…
Category: News
The USPTO Requests Use Of A New Version Of EFS-Web Fillable E-IDS Form
Earlier this month, the USPTO announced a new version (2.1.17) of its EFS-Web fillable e-IDS form (Form PTO/SB/08A). This new version permits up to 300 combined citations of U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications in a single IDS form. The USPTO has requested that practitioners begin using this form starting January 31, 2010. Submission…
Check Out The New Beta Test Release Of The USPTO’s Website
The USPTO recently released a beta test version of the official website. The test version is found here. From USPTO.gov: The USPTO is pleased to announce the beta test release of its new Web site. The new site has been redesigned to improve the look and feel, as well as to enhance the user experience…
Deadline To Volunteer For The USPTO Peer Review Pilot Program Is Approaching
The USPTO’s 2007-2012 Strategic Plan outlines a number of initiatives to improve patent quality and timeliness. Among those initiatives is a Peer Reviewed Prior Art pilot, which is designed to determine the extent to which the organized submission of documents together with comments by the public might provide useful art for Examiners. Under the program,…
Support Your Favorite Patent Blogs
Gene Quinn over at IP Watchdog is conducting a survey to determine the top patent blogs. The survey asks only the following two questions. What is your favorite blog? Which patent blogs do you regularly read? Votes are cast by making selections from a list of patent blogs. If you think us deserving enough of…