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Michigan to Gain a USPTO Patent Office

The USPTO is planning to open a satellite patent office in Detroit.  The USPTO has had difficulty retaining enough patent examiners in recent years to wade through the increasingly large backlog of patent applications awaiting examination.  One reason for the difficultly in retaining patent talent is the high cost of living in the Alexandria, Virginia area near the USPTO headquarters, as compared to the modest patent examiner salary.  In an effort to retain talent, the USPTO will be opening three new satellite patent offices.  The patent office has already identified Detroit as one location and the other two locations are up in the air.  You can provide input to the PTO as to where the offices should be located.  The deadline for public comment on the future PTO office locations is January 30, 2012.

The USPTO requests comments to be in writing and submitted to satelliteoffices@uspto,gov and to provide information that supports the USPTO's purposes of establishing satellite offices to increase outreach activities to better connect patent filers and innovators with the offices, enhance patent examiner retention and improve recruitment of patent examiners.

PTO Hires New Judges to Tackle Backlog of Appeals

The USPTO Director just announced that the PTO has hired 14 new administrative jurists to the Board of Patent Appeals, in an attempt to wade through the backlog of patent appeals stemming from patent prosecution decisions.  If a patent applicant does not agree with the outcome of prosecution of her patent application, she has some opportunity to appeal the examiner's decision with the Board of Patent Appeals.  Board of Patent Appeals decisions may be appealed to federal court, to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which is the appellate court that handles all patent appeals in the U.S.

Patent Reform Isn't Over

As part of the patent reform act signed into law, Congress tasked with the PTO with making changes, but did not instruct the PTO how to implement changes.  Rather, Congress put ongoing requirements on the USPTO for change, in the form of proposing rules changes to implement the new law, gathering public opinion and comment regarding the proposed changes and devising final rules changes to implement many of the new provisions in the America Invents Act (AIA).  For example, in December, the PTO  published proposed rules for supplemental examination and to revise reexamination fees.  The PTO also announced public hearings and request for comments on genetic diagnostic testing per the AIA.  If you are interested in having your opinion heard by those who will be making the rules for the patent landscape for years to come, you have opportunity to get involved.

How long does it take for the USPTO to look at my patent application?

We've come to expect a 1-2 year time period before the USPTO issues a first office action in response to a newly filed utility patent application.  And that's typically just the beginning of the prosecution back and forth between a patent applicant and the patent examiner in trying to obtain allowance of the patent claims.  Under the America Invents Act (the patent reform legislation), the USPTO Director optimistically reported yesterday that the backlog of patent applications awaiting prosecution is now down to only 660,000.  That still seems like a lot, but he reports that the PTO has just hired a fleet of new examiners to attempt to tackle the backlogged cases. 

There also is an excellerated examination option, which provides for a quick patent examination period (12 months).  This option sets additional requirements upon a patent applicant, including payment of higher fees.  But for time sensitive inventions – where an inventor benefits greatly from having an issued patent now – this option is worth considering.