The USPTO’s Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) includes many interesting but somewhat obscure provisions. One of the more useful examples of these provisions is § 707.02. Section 707.02 of the MPEP essentially imparts “special” status to older cases and cases in which a third Office action has been issued. Special status gives an application…
What To Do When An Applicant’s Entity Status Changes During Prosecution
INTRODUCTION Applicants who qualify as small entities as defined by 37 CFR 1.27(a) enjoy a 50% reduction in most government fees. And, in most cases, a small entity applicant remains a small entity throughout the prosecution of an application. This is not always the case, however. Through growth, acquisition, or sale, it is not uncommon for…
The Analogous Art Requirement and How to Traverse Obviousness Rejections Based on Non-Analogous Art
INTRODUCTION The provisions of 35 U.S.C. § 103 limit patent protection to claimed subject matter that would have been nonobvious to a “person of ordinary skill” in the claimed field of endeavor at the time of filing. This person of ordinary skill is a hypothetical construct – an ordinarily skilled artisan who is presumed to…
A Collection Of Useful USPTO Resources From USPTO.gov
The following is a collection of useful pages from the USPTO’s website at WWW.USPTO.GOV. I have found that some of these pages are difficult to locate when navigating the site so I thought I would assemble a convenient list. Most of these links are also available in the sidebar under “USPTO Resources”. The USPTO’s Sample…
A Few Recent USPTO Developments
A New Way to Comment on the MPEP The USPTO has begun offering an alternate method for commenting on selected chapters of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). This new approach is modeled after social media. To participate in an online discussion and contribute ideas, look for the “Discuss the Section” links in the…