Written by Gene Quinn (of IPWatchdog.com and Practice Center Contributor)
[Tuesday] the United States Patent and Trademark Office held a public meeting on the so-called Three Track examination proposal, with everyone in agreement that the proposal is quite welcome, at least in principle. On June 4, 2010, the USPTO published a Notice in the Federal Register setting out the preliminary Three Track proposal and setting Tuesday, July 20, 2010 as a date for the public to come to the Alexandria, Virginia campus to let PTO Officials hear their thoughts. This public meeting proceeds the due date of written comments by a full month, and many of those who spoke explained they would continue to review the proposal and follow up with additional written comments. For more information on the specifics of the proposal please see USPTO Announces New Examination Rules.
One thing can be said definitively: everyone thinks it is a good idea, no one has issues with accelerating applications (Track 1) or allowing them to remain on course as today (Track 2), but there were numerous concerns raised about applicants slowing applications down (Track 3). The good news for the PTO, however, is that speaker after speaker highlighted the same or similar concerns, so it does appear as if there are a finite set of manageable considerations for the PTO to address. In fact, the senior PTO Officials that I spoke with after the public meeting were extremely pleased and quite grateful. I was told by one senior PTO Official that the points raised were all good and that the PTO intends to take them into consideration and address the concerns, along with whatever written feedback they receive. What a refreshing change that will be!
Leading off the event was Patent Commissioner Bob Stoll, who spoke for only a few minutes and then turned the microphone over to USPTO Director David Kappos. Kappos started off much the same way that he has whenever he speaks of of the Three Track proposal, by indicating that the Patent Office should recognize what the shipping industry has known for years; namely that not all packages need to arrive at the same time. Kappos went on to explain that Three Track is about “giving choices on how to spend resources.” He then went on to lament: “I wish I could tell you we have enough change underway already,” but that the USPTO is “years away from having [pendency] under control even with all we are doing today.” This was a sad, but honest appraisal of the sad state of affairs, which is only exacerbated by the lack of appropriate funding for the Patent Office.
To read the entire article click here.
Tags: David Kappos, Director Kappos, federal Register, Gene Quinn, IPWatchdog, New Examination Rules, Patent Commissioner Bob Stoll, PTO, Three track examination proposal, USPTO
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