Patent Baristas

On April 1, the European Patent Office changes the fee structure for filing applications and entering the European regional phase of PCT applications. For most applicants, this will mean an overall increase in fees paid. What are the changes? There will now be a single designation fee of €500, irrespective of the number of states […]

An English version of the current Examination Guidelines for Patent and Utility Model is available on the website of the Japan Patent Office (JPO). The document specifies the requirements for patent applications, giving detailed examples on issues such as “clarity” or “unity of application” according to the Japanese law.  These guidelines carry a lot of […]

Earlier, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) opened the patent examination process for online public participation. With the consent of the inventor, the Peer-to-Patent: Community Patent Review pilot, developed by the New York Law School Institute for Information Law and Policy in cooperation with the USPTO, enables the public to submit prior art […]

The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to review a decision in a patent case which questions what things are patentable, including software and business strategies.  The applicants have filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court to appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in In re […]

In a nonprecedential opinion today, Classen Immunotherapies, Inc. v. Biogen IDEC (06-1634, -1649), Circuit Judge Moore affirmed the denial of patent-eligibility of a medical treatment method under 35 USC § 101, that is, a question of whether the claimed invention meet the requirements for patentable subject matter. The entire opinion is as follows: “In light […]

The quarterly customer partnership meeting of the biotechnology, chemical, and pharmaceutical (BCP) technology groups at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, provided an update on the training and development of Examiners.  Janet Gongola, Associate Solicitor for the Office of the Solicitor, presented a new training module for teaching patent examining corps about case law. According […]

Well, oral arguments were held yesterday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to hear the matter of the Tafas v. Dudas and the US Patent Office, an appeal of the claims and continuations rules promulgated by the USPTO which were preliminarily enjoined and ultimately permanently enjoined by the District Court effect […]

On June 10, 2008, the USPTO published new Rules of Practice Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in Ex Parte Appeals (73 Fed. Reg. 32937-32977, June 10, 2008; Final Rule). The new rules apply to all appeals in which an appeal brief is filed on or after December 10, 2008. The Board of […]