While Congress takes a break for August on The Patent Reform Act,
two competitors are stealing some of the thunder: the USPTO and the US
Circuit of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC).
Heads are spinning to keep abreast of the broad, rapid-fire changes
that are being dealt to the patent universe. Namely, just this week,
the CAFC reversed its view on willful infringement damages in a case
with Seagate, and the PTO held a webinar to cover its Nov 1st new
requirements to Improve Patent Quality.
An overview with links, and some commentary on the continued shift after the jump...
Via Keelynet News: Examination Support - Patents filed after Nov 1st will be allowed
only 5 independent claims and 25 total claims without requiring added
examination support, specific filing support will be required for
applications with more than this number of claims. Continuation Limits
- A common means to extend the life of a patent is to file a
continuation with new claims on the invention which can be better tuned
to the market’s adoption of the technology and a new, later date of
filing and expiration. The PTO now requires details for how applicants
must file continuances providing why claims weren’t filed with the
original patent. Multiple Applications on the same Filing Date - The
PTO also has increased the filing requirements for applications
referring to the same priority or filing date to add more clarity to
applications referring back to the same applications.
Source: http://crunchgear.com/2007/08/25/patentmonkey-big-patent-changes-are-here/