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Ron Reardon
Just when
you thought that practicing patent law had gotten boring, the Four Horseman
of patent law reform, final rules on continuations and claim limitations,
proposed rule changes to Representation of Others Before the USPTO and KSR v
TELEFLEX, came galloping in and got everyone energized.
By now you
should be aware that patent reform bills have been introduced in the Congress (click
here for the House Bill
HR1908 and here for the Senate bill
S3818). NAPP Vice President
Sean Brennan is preparing a summary of the proposed changes in these bills for
distribution to NAPP’s Government Affairs Committee.
Patent reform is
a highly controversial issue, so expect to see considerable debate on each
element being proposed. Will there be changes made to the bill? Almost
certainly. Will this be the year that a patent reform bill actually becomes
law? No one knows.
Many
practitioners went to full alert when it was announced that the USPTO had
submitted two sets of final rules to the Office of Management & Budget for
regulatory review:
● RIN: 0651-AB93:
Changes to Practice for Continuing Applications, Requests for Continued
Examination Practice, and Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claims
● RIN: 0651-AB94:
Changes to Practice for the Examination of Claims in Patent Applications
Practitioner
anxiety on the potential impact to their practice is high, mainly because there
are no clues, only rumors, as to the content of these final rules.
The subject of
assignments has surfaced in the proposed rule changes to Representation
of Others Before the USPTO, as the item that has gotten the most comments,
primarily concerning patent agents. Louis Hoffman, NAPP’s Government Affairs
Liaison, has asked for comments from NAPP members and has gotten insightful
feedback from many of you.
Lastly, with a
Supreme Court decision, the suspense surrounding how KSR v TELEFLEX will or will
not change the criteria for determining obviousness, is now over.
Click here to
read full decision.
Which brings me
to my message: come to NAPP’s annual meeting in Las Vegas on July 15-17
for a chance to rub shoulders with William Jenks, USPTO Associate Solicitor, as
he presents an update on the Federal Circuit; John Love, Deputy Commissioner for
Patent Examination, as he covers Present & Future Perspectives of the USPTO; and
Don Levine, who will give as a peek at future enhancements for EFS-Web. There
is just no substitute for personal contact and interaction with key
representatives from the Office.
I look
forward to seeing you there. | 
