That Which Is Known – “Prior Art” is one of the most important concepts in any statute-based system of granting a patent to an applicant. Stated succinctly, “prior art” is “that which […]
Crowdsourcing of Prior Art – A New Road to Patent Quality?
Appeals Beyond the USPTO – the “End of the Line” in Patent Prosecution
Patent Prosecution and Appeal – a Review – As our regular readers may recall, several of our past columns have covered patent prosecution(1) and appeal(2) in the United States Patent and Trademark […]
“This action is FINAL.” Or Not – “FINAL” Rejection Doesn’t Mean Final
Forewarned by Four Words – It’s been about four months since your patent practitioner worked with you to file an Amendment in response to an Office Action received from the USPTO in […]
Building The Case For Patentability: Prosecution in the USPTO
The Arcane World of Prosecution – Most engineers and scientists who have had some exposure to patents know that a substantial effort is required to file a patent application in the U.S. […]
The Duty of Candor in Proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
Basic Principles – The prosecution of a patent application in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is an ex parte proceeding. This means that with few exceptions, the process of examination of […]
The Invention Disclosure- Putting a Stake in the Ground
A Good Habit to Get Into – In the United States, a limited monopoly in the form of a patent may be granted to the first to invent, rather than the first […]
…And Last But Not Least – The New “First to File” Statute Under the AIA
Encore – For slightly over a year now, the majority of our columns have covered various provisions of the America Invents Act, which became law on September 16, 2011. And for good […]
Challenging Business Method Patents Under Section 18 of the AIA
Patent Reform – This is our ninth article describing the various sections of the America Invents Act (AIA)1. Section 18 of the AIA legislates what is called a transitional program for covered […]
The Prioritized Examination Option Under the AIA
“How fast you wanna go?” There is a scene in the movie Mad Max where Grease Rat says, “Like the sign says, ‘Speed’s just a question of money. How fast you wanna […]
Rules of Atonement – Supplemental Examination Under the AIA
A New Type of Patent Examination – Section 12 of the America Invents Act is directed to a new examination procedure in the USPTO known as supplemental examination. The provisions of Section […]
