BIG Patent Changes are Here
Date: Sunday, August 26, 2007 @ 23:31:16 UTC
Topic: Legal


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/






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