Patent Baristas

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 […]

I received a note from the USPTO asking if I could post a notice about needing volunteers for a Complex Work Units Pilot Program.  This is mainly for those that deal with complex chemical or mathmatical formulae. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking participants for a Complex Work Units (CWUs) Pilot […]

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 […]

Kurt Karst of the FDA Law Blog ran a nice update on patent term extension (PTE) legislation. The legislation, known as the “Dog Ate My Homework Act,” would permit the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to exercise discretion to accept untimely filed Patent Term Extension (PTE) applications has been added to the Patent Reform Act […]

In a nonprecedential decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that it won’t force the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to issue a decision absent the authority to act. Somerset Pharmaceuticals v. Dudas (07-1447). Somerset tried appealing from district court, which turned down its request to get the Director […]

In another challenge to patents it just doesn’t like, the nonprofit organization Public Patent Foundation (PUBPAT) got the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to grant a request for reexamination of four crop science-related patents held by Monsanto. PUBPAT seems to be on a roll after successfully getting reexams of patents on Pfizer’s Lipitor, WARF’s […]

The USPTO has published in the Federal Register a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding appeals to the USPTOs Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI).  The proposed rules are in anticipation of the flood of appeals that will result if (read: when) the new USPTO rules limiting continuation practice go into effect.  (see:  USPTO Proposes […]

Make no mistake about it. This is a story that has an abundance of human drama, which manifests itself in great suffering around the world. Roughly 40 million people worldwide are infected with HIV/AIDS, including more than 1.2 million Americans. These numbers have meaning that numbers cannot convey. The meaning emerges in the stories of […]