Patent Law Practice Center

USPTO Seeks Comment on Patent Pendency

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking public input to determine the optimal first action and total pendency target levels for patents. Currently, the USPTO targets of 10 months on average to a first office action, and an average of 20 months for total pendency were established with stakeholder input in the previous USPTO 2010–2015 Strategic Plan. These targets have guided the USPTO in making significant reductions to pendency over the past four years, specifically: (1) A 30% reduction in average first action pendency, from an average first action pendency of 25.7 months in fiscal year 2010 to the current average first action pendency of 18.1 months; and (2) a 20% reduction in average total pendency, from an average total pendency of 35.3 months in FY 2010 to the current average total pendency of 28.1 months.

USPTO Seeks Comment on Post Grant Trial Proceedings

The America Invents Act (AIA) provided for a variety of new administrative trial proceedings, including: (1) Inter partes review; (2) post-grant review; (3) covered business method patents review; and (4) derivation proceedings. To bring these new proceedings into being, the USPTO issued a number of final rules and a trial practice guide in August and September of 2012.

During the rulemaking to implement the administrative trial provisions of the AIA, the USPTO held roundtable discussions in a number of cities across the country. The USPTO at that time committed to revisiting the rules and practice guide once the Board and public had operated under the rules and practice guide for some period and had gained experience with the new administrative trial proceedings. With nearly three years of experience with these new proceedings, the time has now come for the USPTO to revisit the rules.

The USPTO began the process of revisiting the AIA administrative trial proceeding rules and trial practice guide by engaging in a nationwide listening tour. The USPTO conducted a series of eight roundtables in April and May of 2014, in Alexandria, New York City, Chicago, Detroit, Silicon Valley, Seattle, Dallas, and Denver, to share information concerning the AIA administrative trial proceedings and obtain public feedback on these proceedings.

The USPTO is now ready to take the next steps and is seeking public comment on all aspects of the new administrative trial proceedings, including the administrative trial proceeding rules and trial practice guide. Written comments must be received on or before September 16, 2014, and should be sent via e-mail to TrialsRFC2014@ uspto.gov. Electronic comments submitted in plain text are preferred.

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USPTO Seeks Comments on Patent Small Claims Proceedings

By: Gene Quinn (IPWatchdog.com)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking comments regarding whether the United States government should develop a small claims mechanism for patent enforcement. The USPTO is interested in receiving comments from the public regarding whether there is both a need and a desire for this type of proceeding, in what circumstances such a small claims proceeding would be needed (if any), and what features any adopted small claims proceeding should include.

The Federal Register Notice explains that the USPTO’s interest in examining the possibility of adopting a patent small claims procedure relates to recent discussions the agency has had with Federal judges, private practitioners and various stakeholder groups and bar associations.

Specifically, the USPTO is interested in receiving comments directed to what should be the core characteristics of a patent small claims proceeding, if any. The USPTO is interested in comments on matters relating to appropriate subject matter jurisdiction, venue, case management, appellate review, and available remedies. Stating what should otherwise be obvious, the Federal Register Notice also explains that if a small claims proceeding is adopted, it must conform to the requirements of the U.S. Constitution. The USPTO specifically cites the Seventh Amendment as an illustrative example. Thus, to be seriously helpful, any comments provided should be mindful of the fact that the Constitution does have provisions relative to trials that cannot be ignored.

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