The 5th Annual Patent Law Institute has just kicked off and we are lucky to have Former Deputy Director of Sharon Barner here to give the keynote address on her experience in the United States Patent Office as Deputy Director including the initiatives taking place in the Patent Office today as per the USPTO Strategic Plan”. Here are a few of the highlights of Barner’s remarks:
Barner began by saying that a lot of activity was needed at the USPTO to change things believed needed to change. The number one goal is to focus our resources and more effectively improve overall operations and the time it takes to get a patent. As a part of focusing on timeliness, focus on quality of a patent. PTO needs to be properly funded. USPTO needs to have sustainable funding model and end to fee diversion. However, money alone will not solve problems, needs to be well run and well managed. Spent time crafting “Strategic Plan” at Patent Office. Barner urged all patent practitioners to review the USPTO 2010-2015 Strategic Plan which highlights the USPTO’s goals and initiatives. Wanted to make sure resources focused on activities that will actually drive down backlog and drive down pendency and they did this by setting priorities. How are you going to make priorities real when you’re predecessors couldn’t, we’re going to manage the priorities the way a business would manage priorities.
Barner then went on to highlight some of the initiatives that have been implemented over the last year.
1. Reducing pendency and backlog: Need to look at what moves backlog and pendency. How to optimize examination capacity? Need to increase number of examiners. How we stem attrition at the Patent Office? In 2010, when out and hired more experienced IP practitioners, at increased pay and decreased amount of training. Took less time to train and deploy them sooner. Also had to target our overtime. Continue to see how to optimize examination capacity. Plan is to hire 1,000 more examiners in 2011 and 2012 and to retain them over time. Retention is important for quality of patent.
2. Creating a Regional IP Office – chose Detroit as site of 1st office.
3. Prioritizing incoming work – making it easier for stakeholders to get patent through Patent Office more quickly. Obviously can’t eliminate backlog in one year. “Work your tail off” – how do we get the applications that have sitting there for number years, get them out of the tail while working on current applications. Need to prioritize incoming work. “Green Tech Acceleration Program” was initiated to help with this. Applications submitted in this program, have been examined from beginning to end within 12 months.
4. “Project Exchange” – pilot program – putting another application at the front of the line. First rolled out to small and medium inventors, then expanded to all applications. Goal – to see if applicant would abandon application before 1st office action. Help clear out some backlog
5. Three track Proposal– give applicants more control of speed at which application is reviewed. It will cost more to get expedited examination. PTO released guidelines for Track 1. Under priotritezed examination it will cost about $4,800.
6. Missing Parts Pilot Project – extends provisional application period to an additional 12 months. It slows down process in time for applicants still trying to decide if they are going to go forward with a particular application.
7. Other critical part is to increase efficiency in the Patent Office. Needed to eradicate procedures and processes that don’t make any sense today. Two programs initiated: 1) Compact Prosecution– finding core issues in patent applications and resolving them as soon as possible. want to encourage applicants to be more engaged in the process. A conversation and understanding whree the real issues are. 2) First Action Interview Program – allows participants to conduct interview with the examiner after doing prior art search.
8. Barner encourged all patent practioners to give feedback on the various policies. Various channels to provide feedback…. PTO Director’s Blog, PTO’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.
9. Barner went on to say that the PTO’s current goal is to be proactive; not reactive! PTO has to react quickly to changes made by the Federal Circuit.
10. Patent Reform– Barner belives it will actually happen this time around. She believes the big difference this time is that the White House is involved. In fact, the White House had it’s first meeting in two years on Patent Reform.
Tags: Sharon Barner, USPTO, USPTO initiatives
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