PTO Updates

By Kurt BuechleOn September 17, 2020, the Technical Center 1600 of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) held its regular Biotechnology/Chemical/Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership Conference (“Conference”).      A wide range of topics was covered. The morning session included a discussion of the written description requirement under 35 U.S.C. § 112 and an overview of some [...]

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new pilot program to expedite the examination and prosecution of patent applications related to COVID-19. With a nod to the important role independent inventors and small businesses play in innovation and economic growth, the USPTO indicated its new COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program will initially be [...]

On May 4th, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) launched a new IP marketplace platform to facilitate connections between patent holders and potential licensees in key technologies. The web-based platform, Patents 4 Partnership, is intended to provide a user-friendly, searchable database of patents and published patent applications available for licensing and related to [...]

On Tuesday, April 28, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) issued a Notice of Extended Waiver of Patent-Related Timing Deadlines under the CARES Act (“Updated Notice”). The Notice also addresses other relief available to Patent Applicants and Patentees and supersedes the USPTO’s March 31, 2020 Patent-Related and Trademark-Related Notices and its March 16, [...]

by Kurt Buechle and Liz Burke On April 23, 2020, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a press release announcing the publication of a new report on patent examination outcomes after the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2014 decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank and the USPTO’s subsequently released January 2019 Subject [...]