In this edition of USPTO Update: (1) World’s five largest Intellectual Property offices (IP5) meet in Silicon Valley; (2) the USPTO and KIPO announce launch of Cooperative Patent Classification System Pilot; and (3) Peter Pappas, USPTO Chief of Staff, leaving the Office at the end of June 2013.
World’s Top IP Offices Meet in Silicon Valley
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) hosted a meeting of the heads of the world’s five largest intellectual property offices in Cupertino, California. Known as the IP5, members include the USPTO, the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO).
During the meeting, the heads of the IP5 Offices renewed their commitment to the development of a “Global Dossier,” which is a system to simplify the viewing and management of applications filed in the IP5 Offices. There was also agreement to adopt the Global Classification Initiative, a new effort to harmonize patent classification. The heads of the IP5 Offices confirmed the adoption of an IP5 Patent Information (PI) policy, pursuant to which each of the offices will work towards providing barrier-free access to patent data. There was also reaffirmation of the work-sharing framework that is the bedrock of IP5 cooperation, and endorsement of the development of a Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot project between all IP5 Offices.
The heads of the IP5 Offices also stressed the need to advance harmonization of substantive and procedural patent law. To this end, the heads reviewed the progress in the work of the IP5 Patent Harmonization Experts Panel, and considered next steps.
KIPO to Use Cooperative Patent Classification System
On June 5, 2013, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) announced the launch of a new pilot in which KIPO will classify some of its patent documents using the Cooperative Patent Classification system (CPC), a new classification system jointly managed by the USPTO and the European Patent Office (EPO). KIPO is the first foreign patent office to engage with the USPTO and EPO in this new system, which debuted on January 1, 2013.
The pilot between KIPO and the USPTO marks a major first step towards KIPO classifying its patent collection using the CPC. For the pilot, KIPO will apply the CPC classification to patent documents in particular technologies, namely, technologies for which filings have been especially active at KIPO. KIPO will work together with the USPTO to identify these technologies.
Chief of Staff to Leave USPTO
On May 28, 2013, Peter Pappas, the Chief of Staff at the United States Patent and Trademark Office, announced to senior management that he will be leaving the Office at the end of June 2013 to pursue other opportunities. While perhaps not widely known by patent attorneys in the day-to-day trenches, Pappas is well known both at the Patent Office and in Washington, DC more broadly. And although Pappas is not a patent attorney, upon joining the Patent Office in 2009, he became an important and influential player in the patent community. Indeed, Pappas was Direct Kappos’ right hand man while Director.
Pappas is an attorney with a Clinton White House pedigree. He has been quite successful in the private sector between government stints. He did not tell me what he will be doing next, but I expect we will see him either in a high-level communications position in the private sector or another position within the Obama Administration. He is a smart, talented attorney with a very good sense of the importance of a coherent communications strategy. Wherever he lands someone will be very lucky to have him.
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