Last October, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Request for Comments on USPTO Initiatives To Ensure the Robustness and Reliability of Patent Rights. Responses to this request are due by this Thursday, February 2, 2023. Patent owners, especially small businesses and independent inventors, need two things of the patent system: 1) Reliability/believability. We need patents that are respected when they are issued. We do not want any doubt about their validity. 2) Flexibility. We use many different strategies during patent prosecution. Many of our strategies reflect the startup-nature of our inventions, where we are constantly working on the product-market-fit. We may need several bites at the apple to effectively protect our invention. The Request for Comments suggests several different changes to patent prosecution, none of which address small companies’ needs.
Recent Posts
- USPTO Scraps Proposal to Allow Non-Registered Practitioners as Lead Counsel in Final Rule on Expanding PTAB Practice Opportunities
- SCOTUS Denies Challenges to Section 101 Test, Trademark Domicile Rules and Obviousness-Type Double-Patenting Analysis
- After Loper Bright, the USPTO Should Reopen the Comment Period for FY 2025-2029 Patent Fees
- Dissecting the USPTO’s Update to Eligibility Guidance for AI Inventions
- Other Barks & Bites for Friday, October 4: Meta Hit with Class Action Copyright Infringement Lawsuit; Industry Leaders Ask for Clarification on Third-Party Litigation; EUIPO Applauds German Court Ruling on Misleading Invoices