Patent Attorney, Lawyer Law Firm. Handling Patent Prosecution & Litigation Cases

Women Inventors On the Rise

In March the USPTO will unveil a new study regarding women inventors and patents.  In 2010, the U.S. saw a 35% increase in women receiving patents from the the prior year, totaling over 22,000 patents granted to women that year.  The USPTO, in conjunction with the National Women's Business Council, will pay tribute to women inventors during March and will unveil the 2011 results of the study.  With AIA changes, patent applications will now be tracked by gender.  The USPTO has tipped its hat a bit prior to the Mar. 1 unveiling, to indicate that the number of women applying for and receiving patents and trademarks over the past 5 yrs. continues to rise.    

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.

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. 

What is inequitable conduct in patent prosecution?

Inequitable conduct, often called “fraud upon the patent office,” generally means that in trying to obtain a patent, the applicant was not honest with the patent office and failed to disclose prior art or other information known by the applicant that was material to the patentability of his/her invention.  Patent prosecution rules include a Duty of Candor, which requires the applicant and his/her representatives to disclose material information to the USPTO during prosecution of the patent application.  Should an applicant withhold material information and thus commit inequitable conduct, the result is that the patent would be deemed unenforceable.  This is an equitable doctrine.  It means that even if the patent is valid, the applicant would be precluded from enforcing it against infringers due to the fraud upon the patent office.  Inequitable conduct is a defense sometimes raised to allegations of infringement.

Patent Infringement Dispute: Java FX Developer Oracle is Less Than Enthused with Google’s Android Software

Oracle Corporation (Oracle) filed the patent infringement lawsuit against Google in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Oracle’s complaint seeks monetary damages for willful infringement. Along with an injunction to immediately halt Google from building and distributing the Android Smartphone.

Wiki describes Oracle Corporation as a multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing enterprise software products — particularly database management systems.

The Android is Google’s premier Internet and social media Smartphone. Google’s use of open source code, on top of (and based off of) Oracle’s different Java codes, for use in running and writing applications for the Android operating system on its Google Android Smartphone, allegedly infringes on patented Java technologies.

Oracle’s complaint alleges that Google’s use of Java code source and applications opens Google up to liability for partial-infringement of seven different Oracle owned patents.

The complaint also alleges that Google knows, or should have known, of these different infringements because Google hired former Sun Java engineers to work in developing the Android operating system.

If you have a patent issue, or wish to register a patent, you may contact one of our patent attorneys for a free evaluation or call 866.936.7447 (International Toll Free).

Patent Term Adjustment Refigured

The Federal Circuit recently rejected the USPTO’s method of calculating patent term adjustments (“PTA”) under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) in Wyeth v. Kappos No. 2009-1120 (January 7, 2010).  An issued patent has a term of 20 years from the filing date of the patent application, and then it expires.  35 U.S.C. 154(b) provides for adjustment of that patent term to extend the term due to USPTO delay in examining the application, which may be decreased due to applicant delay in prosecuting the application.  The Federal Circuit just rejected the USPTO’s interpretation of 35 U.S.C. 154(b)(2)(A) regarding “overlap” calculations.  Accordingly, the USPTO is in the process of changing its PTA calculations.  Please note that an applicant has 180 days after patent issuance to seek review of the USPTO’s PTA calculation.  However, patentees should consider whether they are eligible for patent term recalculation based upon this decision.

See also Dennis Crouch Patently-O posting:  Wyeth v. Kappos: Appellate Panel Confirms that PTO Is Miscalculating (Undercalculating) Delays in Prosecution and the Corresponding Patent Term Adjustment

If you have a patent issue, or wish to register a patent, you may contact one of our patent attorneys for a free evaluation or call 866.936.7447 (International Toll Free).