January 26, 2010

In a recent blog update (link below), USPTO Director David Kappos issued a reminder that the first affidavits for extensions of trademark protection issued under the Madrid Protocol will be coming due between February 1, 2010 and February 1, 2011.…

January 7, 2010

The United State Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) is considering modifications to rules governing practice before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI) in ex parte appeals. Changes to the BPAI rules were first proposed in 2007 and finalized…

December 9, 2009

The USPTO is introducing a new pilot program which will accelerate the examination of certain “green” technology patent applications.  Under normal circumstances, patent applications are examined in the order that they are filed.  Currently, the average pendency time for applications…

December 1, 2009

New USPTO Director David Kappos is reaching out and attempting to engage the public on the topic of patent law and other issues that matter to both inventors and the patent bar alike.  Mr. Kappos began the blog earlier this…

November 24, 2009

The Midwest Intellectual Property Symposium was held November 19 & 20 at the University Hotel and Conference Center in Indianapolis, IN.  The event was sponsored by the Indiana Continuing Legal Education Foundation and featured presentations by speakers in a variety…

November 12, 2009

Patent searching is typically the first step in determining whether to pursue patent protection for an invention.  On November 11, 2009, Woodard, Emhardt attorneys Chuck Schmal and Doug Gallagher presented a class on techniques for conducting patent searches using the…

November 10, 2009

Monday the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the highly anticipated Bilski v. Kappos case.  The Court’s decision in this case, which is expected by the spring of 2010, will shape what types of technology is and is not…

November 4, 2009

ICANN (the body responsible for regulating domain names) is planning to expand the domain name system to better reach an international audience.  Domain names consisting of non-latin characters are currently set to be launched on November 16, 2009.  These characters…

October 27, 2009

On September 24, 2009, Thailand (TH) became the 142nd Contracting State of the PCT.  Thailand will become bound by the PCT on December 24, 2009, and all PCT applications filed on or after December 24 will automatically designate Thailand.

October 21, 2009

A new patent search tool offered by WIPO is available here.  The tool includes about 1.6 million PCT applications as well as the patent collections of ARIPO, Cuba, Israel, Mexico, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa and Vietnam.  Additional collections will be added in…

October 9, 2009

The USPTO announced today that it will officially rescind its controversial claiming and continuations rules package next week.  The restrictive rules package sought to impose extensive limits on the way applicants could claim their inventions and on the number of…

October 7, 2009

The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced yesterday that it is expanding its initial First Action Interview Pilot Program.  This program entitles an applicant to an interview with the patent examiner assigned to their case prior to the issuance…