The USPTO

Are the PreAppeal Conference and P3 Program Hopelessly Rigged? Practice Tips for the Savvy Practitioner.

The USPTO announced their new Post-Prosecution Pilot Program, or P3 program for after-final review of a patent application. The P3 program is billed as being similar to the PreAppeal Conference but it adds an oral argument to the mix and – the Office promises – a meaningful explanation of the decision. There is a twist,…

60 Day Pendency for Design Patent – A New Personal Record

I just received a Notice of Allowance on August 3, 2009 for a design patent filed June 3, 2009. That is a pendency of 61 days. This eclipses my previous record of 71 days for a design patent.

The current case was filed electronically with a Petition to Make Special based on Age.

The Patent Office is Getting Faster

I have some cases that have been pending for years and private PAIR still says that first action in the case is 60 months away.

However, I recently had a first Office action come a mere 111 days after the date of filing. The case was filed in October of last year and I received a full Office action in January of this year. This is for a utility application in the mechanical arts, and I also filed a Petition to Make Special due to the inventor’s age. I received approval for the Petition to Make Special on one day and the Office action the next.

Slowing Down Patent Issuance

There are many strategies and situations where slowing down the patent from issuing is an enormous benefit to the client. Personally, I take a very proactive approach to making the patent issue as late as possible where this is needed, such as filing a provisional application. I could not bear the thought of writing a sloppy patent application or intentionally filing claims are ambiguous or need a lot of work to clean up. I think it is reprehensible to intentionally and needlessly drag out prosecution by filing endless responses to Office actions, because it lines the pockets of the attorney without benefiting the client. I do think there are legitimate, low cost mechanisms that can extend the prosecution time to help the client get the most protection for the money spent.

Who Said The Patent Office Was Slow – My Application Only Took 71 Days for Allowance

Maybe things are changing at the US Patent Office.

I filed an original design patent on February 6 of this year and received a notice of allowance dated April 18. That is a mere pendency of 71 days. It will likely take the PTO longer to get the application through the publication process than the entire examination process. I thought that it took longer than that just to get through the Office of Initial Patent Examination.