The USPTO released the final version of its 2018-2022 Strategic Plan today. I previously wrote about the flaws in the draft strategic plan. The draft plan did, however, at least note the importance of stakeholder engagement. To assist in this goal, the Office asked for comments on the draft. In fact, the released strategic plan…
Tag Archive for patent quality
Cisco, Google, MIT, and USPTO Team Up To Create Prior Art Archive
by Josh Landau •
One of the biggest problems in patent examination is actually finding prior art. When it comes to patents and patent applications, that’s relatively easy—examiners have access to databases of all patents and applications, and they’re well-trained in searching those databases. But when it comes to non-patent prior art—product manuals, journal articles, standards proposals, and other…
Further Evidence That Examiners Can Be Incentivized To Improve Patent Quality
by Josh Landau •
Patent Progress has previously covered the research of Profs. Wasserman and Frakes regarding structural incentives at the USPTO that affect examiner behavior. A new paper in the AIPLA Quarterly Journal, written by Eric Blatt and Lian Huang (both former examiners), examines another area in which examiner incentives affect behavior—the Signatory Authority Review Program.
The Patent Examination Process Shouldn’t Be An Oversight
by Josh Landau •
Director Iancu will be appearing for his first oversight hearing tomorrow, Wednesday, April 18. This follows on his recent speech at the Chamber of Commerce, at which he emphasized two areas of focus: Patent rights should be more predictable and the system should be more stable. When discussing the patent system, dialogue should be more…
What’s In A Name? At The Patent Office, Possibly More Than You Think
by Josh Landau •
In an ideal world, patent examiners are perfect neutral arbiters. They find the best prior art and always make the right decision as to whether an idea is new and entitled to a patent. In this world, we wouldn’t need inter partes review or validity challenges in court—examiners would get it right the first time.…
April Madness Is Here
by Josh Landau •
March Madness is over, with the Big Ten not taking home a championship. (A sad day for Michigan fans like me.) But that’s okay—in April, the Big Ten Network has plenty to keep busy with. Baseball, softball, tennis, track and field, rowing… And patent lawsuits. At-Home Broadcasting About a decade ago, the Big Ten created…
Fee-Setting Reauthorization Bill Introduced In Senate
by Josh Landau •
Senator Coons has long been interested in strengthening patents. While some of his efforts, like the STRONGER Patents Act, would actually harm the U.S.’s innovation economy by strengthening patents at the expense of innovation, his latest bill is different. Last week, Senator Coons (along with Senator Hatch) introduced the Building Innovation Growth through Data for…
“The Same Or Substantially The Same Prior Art Or Arguments”
by Josh Landau •
Director Andrei Iancu has been making the rounds since his confirmation. In a recent interview, he suggested that “[t]here is, for sure, a perception problem in the IP community with the PTAB” and that “when you have a perception problem you have a real problem in the sense that if the IP community loses faith…
Granted In 19 Hours
by Josh Landau •
Patent examiners have an extremely hard job. They’re given a patent application—which could be anywhere from a page long up to hundreds of pages, with patent claims ranging from a couple sentences to pages of description—and expected to understand the technology behind the application, look for any possible examples of prior art, describe how the…
Chamber of Commerce Patent System Ranking Is Built On A Shaky Foundation
by Josh Landau •
The Chamber of Commerce produces a yearly ranking of intellectual property systems around the world. This year, they dropped the U.S. patent system to 12th. If I thought their rankings had any merit, I might be concerned by this change. Unfortunately, their analysis is flawed and based on complete misrepresentations of reality. So, What Happened?…