USPTO News
- USPTO releases report on artificial intelligence and intellectual property policy.
- Mary Critharis has been appointed the USPTO’s Acting Chief Policy Officer and Director for International Affairs. Ms. Critharis, who most recently served as the USPTO’s Deputy Chief Policy Officer and Senior Counsel, replaces Shira Perlmutter, who was recently selected to lead the U.S. Copyright Office as the nation’s 14th U.S. Register of Copyrights.
Notices, Guidance, and Requests
- Request for Comments on Discretion To Institute Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, 85 Fed. Reg. 203 (October 20, 2020) [Written comments period closes November 19, 2020]
- Proposed Continuing Legal Education Guidelines, 85 Fed. Reg. 197 (October 9, 2020) [Written comments period closes January 7, 2021]
- USPTO issued a new examination guide setting forth procedures for examining applications for generic.com terms (a generic term combined with a generic top-level domain) in light of the Supreme Court’s decision in USPTO v. Booking.
Final Rules
- Facilitating the Use of the World Intellectual Property Organization’s ePCT System To Prepare International Applications for Filing With the United States Receiving Office, 85 Fed. Reg. 190 (September 30, 2020)
Interim Rules
- There are no new interim rules.
Proposed Rules
- Changes to Representation of Others before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 45812–45834 (July 30, 2020) [Written comment period closed on September 28, 2020.]
- Trademark Fee Adjustment, 37040–37057 (June 19, 2020) [Written comment period closed on August 3, 2020.]
- Patent Trial and Appeal Board Rules of Practice: Instituting on All Challenged Patent Claims and All Grounds and Eliminating the Presumption at Institution Favoring Petitioner as to Testimonial Evidence, 31728–31732 (May 27, 2020) [Written comment period closed on June 26, 2020.]
- Small Entity Government Use License Exception, 6476–6482 (February 5, 2020) [Written comment period closed on March 23, 2020.]
PTAB Decisions
- There are no new Precedential or Informative PTAB Decisions.
