Patent Baristas

Since the America Invents Act has now passed, a lot of applicants will now qualify for a 75% reduction in certain fees at the US Patent Office.  The Act created a new micro-entity rate.  Now, various fees are due according to the following schedule: 1.  Regular applicants:  You’re a big boy or girl and you […]

Yesterday, Commissioner Robert L. Stoll talked about the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act at the 21st All Ohio Annual Institute on Intellectual Property here in beautiful, downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. While only a cursory review, Stoll went down the highlights of the provisions that need to be understood now. 15% Surcharge The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (Public Law […]

On September 16, 2011, President Barack Obama signed into law the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act.   This Act is touted as the most comprehensive overhaul to our patent system since 1836. The new law is intended to afford more certainty for patent applicants and owners, and provide the USPTO the resources needed to operate efficiently and […]

On 9/6/11, US Business & Industry Council (USBIC) arranged a briefing for Senate staff about the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (H.R.1249)(formerly known as the Patent Reform Act of 2011). This briefing’s purpose was to make the Senate aware of many of the problems with this horrific legislation. The panelists were (from right to left (facing […]

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office made a change in policy based on the recent decision of In re Tanaka. Basically, the PTO has said that in a reissue application, the addition of claims that are narrower in scope than the existing claims, without any narrowing of the existing patent claims, may be the basis […]

In a 2-1 decision, the Federal Circuit upheld that companies can patent genes but decided that they cannot patent methods to compare the gene sequences. The Federal Circuit handed down a decision on the Myriad Genetics appeal from the decision of the US District Court holding that a gaggle of medical organizations, researchers, genetic counselors, […]

A Practitioner from a Leading U.S. Law Firm sent in a screen capture of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s login screen for Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. I find some interest that the site shows a bit of an international flavor in the use of Arabic characters.  The full image is here:  PAIR […]

At an event co-sponsored by the US Patent and Trademark Office, The Biotechnology Industry Organization and the Biojudiciary Project,  David J. Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office gave a speech on “From Chakrabarty to Today. Kappos remarked that there is no question that […]