Changes to Patent Practice: The PTO's New Rules to Shorten Patent Prosecution Time

摘要

For the past several years, the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) has been faced with a backlog of patent applications that has raised criticism about the time that it takes to issue a patent and about the quality of issued patents. In an attempt to address these problems, beginning in January 2006, the PTO proposed several rule changes that would affect how patent applications will be examined. The new rules issued on August 21, 2007, are the result after several hearings and more than 500 public comments.The new rules limit the number of claims that can be filed and the number of continuation applications and requests for continued examination that can be filed without justification. An applicant that exceeds limits on claim numbers must present justification in an Examination Support Document that will become part of the patent's file history.