The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a final rule in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020, that includes a fee for patent applications that are not filed in the DOCX format. The fee only applies to non-provisional utility applications and not to design, plant, or provisional applications. The effective date of […]
On April 18, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will begin issuing electronic patent grants (eGrants) rather than paper patents. Part of this changeover involves modifying the Issue Fee Transmittal form (PTOL-85B) and its web-based version. The form no longer allows for advance orders of patent copies, because patents may be printed directly […]
To further advance its information technology strategy of achieving complete, beginning-to-end electronic processing of patent-related submissions, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a final rule to require that patent term extension (PTE) applications, interim PTE applications, and any PTE-related submissions to the USPTO be submitted electronically via the USPTO patent electronic […]
Beginning April 18, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is shifting towards issuing paper waste-reducing electronic patent grants (eGrants) to patent recipients—a new process that delivers the official copy of patent grants in an electronic format. A bound paper version as a ceremonial copy throughout a limited transition period will be provided, and […]
Effective immediately, small entities are entitled to a 60% discount (up from a 50% discount) and micro entities are entitled to an 80% discount (up from a 75% discount). The new fee schedule can be found at https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/uspto-fee-schedule. New penalties, however, are set forth for false assertions. Under the new law, “ an entity that […]
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a final rule in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020 that includes a fee for patent applications that are not filed in DOCX format, except for design, plant, or provisional applications. This new fee was scheduled to become effective on January 1, 2023. Through this […]
In a recent case, Eli Lilly and Co. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals International GmbH, the Federal Circuit upheld the validity of Teva’s patents directed to specific methods of treatment using an “effective amount” of certain antibodies. The court agreed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that the claim preambles were limiting, and that obviousness […]
In a recent case, Minerva Surgical, Inc. V. Hologic, Inc., the Supreme Court limited the doctrine that prevents an assignor from subsequently challenging the validity of the patent that he or she assigned.
Due to COVID-19, the USPTO recently announced that it is possible to request a suspension of the requirement to file a certified copy of a foreign priority application by the time the issue fee is paid, if the foreign priority application is not available via a multilateral priority document exchange program. Here’s What You Need […]