Patent Baristas

Well, by a 220-175 vote the U.S. House of Representatives passed its version (H.R. 1908, the Patent Reform Act of 2007) of an overhaul of patent laws designed to trim excessive litigation and improve patent quality, giving high-tech firms what they’ve been clamoring for: a weaker patent system. If made into law, the legislation will […]

This video made me wonder more about whether YouTube had jumped the shark than about Patent Reform.

The patent reform bills (H.R. 1908 and S. 1145, the Patent Reform Acts of 2007) were favorably reported by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees prior to the August Congressional recess. According to the schedule for the House of Representatives this week, H.R. 1908 is to be considered by the House this Friday, September 7th. […]

The Patent Office Professional Association (POPA) has weighed in on the patent reform fiasco and has sent a letter to the House Judiciary Committee and a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee opposing the Patent Reform Act of 2007 (H.R. 1908/S. 1145) and provided a copy of POPA’s position paper on the legislation. POPA believes […]

Dr. Triantafyllos Tafas, represented by Kelley, Frye and Warren LLP filed a declaratory judgment action in the Eastern District of Virginia, arguing that the new continuation rules are null and void, and is also seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction prohibiting the USPTO from putting the new rules changes into effect. Dr. Tafas is an […]

Changes To Patent Practice (Pt. 1) Seeing applicants as just a bunch of bad boys and girls filing (and paying for, of course) just far too many applications (including both continuing applications and requests for continued examination) the Office is taking everyone to the woodshed for a lesson in not asking the Office to do […]

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will publish (tomorrow) in the Federal Register new rules that will allow the agency to continue to make the patent examination process more effective and efficient by encouraging applicants to use greater precision in describing the scope of their inventions. The new rules will be effective on […]

As further evidence that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) hates the chemical/pharma/biotech arts, the Office is proposing to revise the rules of practice pertaining to any claim using alternative language to claim one or more species. That is, if the claims use Markush or other forms of alternative language. This is all […]