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Ms. Theresa Stanek Rea and event organizer Dr. Laura Lloyd of Sheldon Mak & Anderson, co-chair of the Pasadena Bar Technology Section |
Ms. Theresa Stanek Rea, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property & Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), spoke exclusively to the Technology Section of the Pasadena Bar Association on August 11, 2011. Fifty inventors, attorneys and guests attended the luncheon event held at Noor in the Paseo Colorado in Pasadena.
Ms. Rea discussed many current and pending changes at the USPTO. Many of these changes are directed towards eliminating the backlog of pending patent applications and increasing the quality of the resulting patents. Currently, there are 695,086 patent applications pending in the USPTO. Ms. Rea stated that it is Director Kappos’ belief that allowing claims in patents increases innovation and creates jobs that stimulates the economy.
The Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences will be renamed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Currently, there are 102 Administrative Patent Judges (APJ). By the end of this year, there will be 150 APJs, and that number will double by the end of 2012.
If the current patent reform bill before Congress passes, the number of patent examiners will increase by 1500 examiners in 2011, and another 1500 examiners will be added in 2012. Three campuses will be added, one in Detroit, Michigan and the others in an as yet undetermined location, because the USPTO campus in Alexandria is not large enough to hold the increased number of examiners. Along with adding physical locations, the USPTO has begun a telework initiative that allows examiners to work anywhere. In cases where an in person interview is requested, Ms. Rea stated that Director Kappos has mandated that the examiners will be flown to the USPTO for the interview. However, new technology currently being reviewed by the USPTO should allow for applicants and examiners to video conference with each other, cutting down on the time and expense of in person meetings.
The USPTO is expanding the First Action Interview Pilot Program to all utility art areas. The program allows the applicant or their representative to discuss the application with the examiner before issuance of the first office action. Ms. Rea reported that the program is going well, and has resulted in a 33% first office action allowance rate.
Ms. Rea also discussed the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program. In the PPH program, an applicant receiving a ruling from the Office of First Filing (OFF) that at least one claim in an application filed in the OFF is patentable may request that the Office of Second Filing (OSF) fast track the examination of corresponding claims in corresponding applications filed in the OSF. Applications in the PPH result in a 91% allowance rate in the OSF.
Ms. Rea’s presentation was very informative, and it was refreshing to hear that the USPTO is taking a look at and changing their procedures to make them more efficient when necessary. Changing the way patents are being handled from start to finish with the end result of producing high quality patents and decreasing the pendency of patent applications is great news for both patent practitioners and their clients.
