USPTO Proposes Changes to Patent Term Adjustment in Response to Novartis

Recently, the United States Patent and Trademark Office proposed changes to the rules of practice pertaining to the patent term adjustment provisions in view of the decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Novartis AG v. Lee.

Novartis filed law suits that challenged the determinations by the USPTO of how much time to add to the patent term under 35 U.S.C. § 154(b) with respect to 18 different patents. The district court dismissed 15 of the claims as untimely asserted, and the Federal Circuit affirmed that ruling. With respect to the substantive ruling on the other three patents (U.S. Patent Nos. 7,807,155; 7,968,518; and 7,973,031), the Federal Circuit in a panel decision by Judge Taranto (joined by Judges Newman and Dyk) concluded that the USPTO was partly correct and partly incorrect in its interpretation of § 154(b)(1)(B).  As a result, the Federal Circuit determined that Novartis was entitled to most, but not all, of the patent term adjustment it seeks.

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06.26.14 | Patent Issues, USPTO | Gene Quinn

PTO to Effectively Extend Provisional Applications to 24 Months

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

The United States Patent and Trademark Office will soon unveil a pilot program that is aimed at trying to provide inventors with some additional options with respect to moving from a filed provisional patent application to a nonprovisional patent application. USPTO Director David Kappos wrote about this in the November edition of Inventors Eye, see Providing Inventors More Time and Options. In some circles this pilot program has at times been characterized as providing for an extension of a provisional patent application to allow it to remain pending for twenty-four (24) months.  That is not technically an accurate way to articulate what the new pilot program will do, and for those who might want to avail themselves of the soon to be announced pilot program it is worth getting a handle on some of the finer details of the proposal. The effect could look like an extension of a provisional patent application, but there are special steps that must be followed.

The Kappos Administration at the Patent Office has been criticized in some circles for even pursuing this path because it is too complicated, but such criticism smacks of a healthy dose of condescension if you ask me.  It seems far too paternalistic to believe that inventors and small businesses are not savvy enough to figure out what they want and what they need.  After all, the idea of attempting to extend the effective life of a provisional patent application was proposed to Director Kappos by an inventor.   (more…)

12.10.10 | Patent Issues, Patent Policy, posts, USPTO | Stefanie Levine