Patent Baristas

According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the time it takes to examine and allow patent applications has increased due to “increases in the volume and complexity of patent applications.”
In FY 2007, USPTO’s patent examiners:

Examined 362,227 applications – the highest number in history.
Quality compliance was 96.5 percent – equaling last year’s results, the [...]

The USPTO has released the list of organizations and persons that submitted comments in response to the July 2007 Rules of Practice Before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences in Ex Parte Appeals, Notice of Proposed Rule Making, first published in the Federal Register at 72 Fed. Reg. 41472 and then published in the [...]

In the matter of Triantafyllos Tafas v. Jon W. Dudas, et al. consolidated with Smithkline Beecham Corporation, et al. v. Jon W. Dudas, et al. (1:07cv1008), the district court held that it was willing to grant GSK’s Motion for a Preliminary Injunction to enjoin enactment of the USPTO’s new rules, “Changes to Practice for Continued [...]

In a counter to the Coalition for Patent Fairness, Pat Choate, Ph.D. has published an analysis of the Patent Reform Act of 2007 for the Manufacturing Policy Project.  Entitled, The Patent Reform Act of 2007: Responding to Legitimate Needs or Special Interests?  The “Patent Fairness” Issue, Choate responds to the assertions put forth in favor [...]

Showing that Patent Reform has become as polarizing as major politics these days, supporters for each camp sent their respective support letters to the Senate.
Supporters of patent reform and the Coalition for Patent Fairness sent a letter signed by a total of 128 companies and associations from across the U.S. in support of the Patent [...]

Judge Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia has granted a preliminary injunction prohibiting the USPTO from moving forward with its proposed changes to the patent rules on continuations and claims.  Download the injunction order here:
GSK Preliminary Injunction Order (pdf)
The rules, labeled “Changes to Practice for Continued Examination Filings, Patent Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claims, [...]

Time is running short for actions to stop implementation of the USPTO’s “Changes to Practice for Continued Examination Filings, Patent Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claims, and Examination of Claims in Patent Applications,” 72 Fed. Reg. 161 at p. 46716 (Aug. 21, 2007).
Motions are scheduled to be argued on October 31 in the U.S. District Court [...]

In another round of challenges to the proposed rules by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, one group looks to challenge the rule change regarding the draft final regulation “Changes to Information Disclosure Statement Requirements and Other Related Matters.”
This is part of the USPTO Master Plan in the published final rules regarding limiting claims and [...]