PTABWatch Takeaway: In mid-October 2019, the Patent Office updated its subject matter eligibility guidance published in January 2019. The update does not change the guidance, but simply offers clarifications invited by public responses to the January guidance.

On October 17, 2019, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a 22-page an Update (“October PEG Update”) to its 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (“2019 PEG”).
Continue Reading Highlights of the U.S. Patent Office’s Update to its 2019 Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance

Line of business people in profileBiotechnology patent applicants dissatisfied with the examination of their patent applications can look to the PTAB for relief by filing an appeal – but they will need to be very, very patient. The procedures created by the America Invents Act (AIA) for challenging U.S. patents – inter partes review, post grant review, and covered business methods – have transformed strategies for contesting the validity of patents.  In just a few years, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has become one of the busiest forums for contesting patent validity, due in part because the PTAB must complete its review within 18 months of receiving a petition. Patent applicants dissatisfied with a patent examiner’s rejection of their patent application may appeal the rejections to  the same PTAB that administers AIA trials. But, these applicants cannot expect the PTAB to decide their appeal with the same timeliness with which the PTAB completes AIA trials.
Continue Reading Patent Applicants Who Appeal Must Wait Their Turn with the PTAB