Live from the 6th Annual Patent Law Institute – Inside the PTO: AIA Rule Changes

Live from the 6th Annual Patent Law Institute, I am blogging from the panel entitled, “PTO Doings I: Rules and Regs That Are/Are Not Changing for 2012″. The featured panelists include Institute co-Chair John M. White, Brian Hanlon, Robert J. Spar. This afternoon’s discussion continues the close look at the outcome of the PTO rules and policy-making apparatus.  Highlights from our faculty speakers:

Two basic triggers for 2012 USPTO activity include:

  1. Office self-initiated actions: The Office moved forward with a number of efforts to improve and streamline the examination/prosecution process, and
  2. The AIA, enacted on Sept. 16, 2011: Required the USPTO to take implementing actions, essentially in 3 timed phases, for items effective in:
  1. Phase 1: immediately, or within 60 days
  2. Phase 2: in one year, or on Sept.16, 2012, and
  3. Phase 3: in 18 months, or on March 16, 2013.

(more…)

03.19.12 | America Invents Act, Patent Law Institute, USPTO | Mark Dighton

Top 10 Reasons to Take the PLI Patent Bar Review Course

 

The following post was written by Gene Quinn , of IPWatchdog and Practice Center Contributor.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has updated the patent bar exam, sometimes referred to as the patent registration examination.  Effective April 12, 2011, the patent bar examination now tests MPEP 8th Edition Revision 8, as well as critically important guidelines, such as the KSR, Bilski and 112 guidelines, not yet a part of any edition of the MPEP.  See USPTO Updates Registration Examination.  I have been teaching the PLI Patent Bar Review Course for over 10 years now, and along with John White (the original course creator) participated in revising our materials, lectures and questions to bring the course up to date with the latest edition of the exam now being offered.  I continue to believe the PLI Patent Bar Review Course is the best course out there, and I have put together the following Top 10 reasons to take our Review Course.

1. PLI’s Patent Bar Review Course has been completely updated – overhauled really. We had already been working on updates to our materials based on the inevitable change in the exam moving from MPEP Rev. 4 to MPEP Rev. 8.  We knew it was only a matter of time before a new revision of the MPEP was tested, so we have had MPEP Rev. 8 materials at the ready.  The text and questions have been completely revised and our lectures re-done

2. We have spent considerable time and effort putting together new materials that specifically and directly cover the newly testable materials (i.e., KSR, Bilski and 112 guidelines) that are not a part of MPEP Rev. 8. We expect that these newly testable materials will be heavily tested on the new patent bar examination.

Click here for the full IPWatchdog article.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

04.20.11 | PLI Patent Bar Review Course, posts | Stefanie Levine