Patent and Trademark Office, European Patent Office Agree to Work toward Joint Patent Classification System

The Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to work with the European Patent Office towards the formation of a joint patent classification system, according to…

ANALYSIS: Former PTO Leaders Commend Kappos’s First Year as Director

Stakeholders with prior work experience at the Patent and Trademark Office generally commended the “state of the PTO” comments made by Director David J. Kappos in a…

PTO Unveils Patent Pendency Dashboard; Director Kappos Recaps First Year Accomplishments

Patent and Trademark Office Director David J. Kappos, in a half-hour conference call with the press Sept. 8, recapped the major initiatives the agency has implemented since he took over the position in…

BNA INSIGHTS: Your Money or Your Patent Term: PTO Proposes Options for Prioritized or Delayed Examination

In its continuing efforts to address the backlog of unexamined applications, the PTO has announced that it is considering an initiative that would create three tracks for…

BNA INSIGHTS: The Amazing Grace Period: An Analysis of the Proposed Grace Period Under the New Patent Reform Bill and Its Relationship to an International-Type Grace Period

U.S. patent law currently differs from the law of many other countries because of the combination of our grace period and our first-to-invent system. If, as proposed under the pending patent…

PTO and U.K. IP Office Team up to Reduce Global Patent Backlogs

The Patent and Trademark Office and the U.K. Intellectual Property Office agreed March 10 to develop an action plan for reducing patent processing backlogs in…