Change in Practice Regarding Correction of Foreign Priority Claims, 60367-60368 [2015-25407]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 193 / Tuesday, October 6, 2015 / Notices II. Method of Collection The information will be collected on forms submitted electronically or by mail. III. Data OMB Control Number: 0648–0041. Form Numbers: NOAA Form 34–82, NOAA Form 88–14. Type of Review: Regular submission (extension of a current information collection). Affected Public: Business or other forprofit organizations. Estimated Number of Respondents: 3,000. Estimated Time per Response: NOAA Form 34–82, 20 minutes; NOAA Form 88–14, 3.5 hours for agreements and 1 hour for certificate. Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 2,917. Estimated Total Annual Cost to Public: $15,320 in recordkeeping/ reporting costs. IV. Request for Comments Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate of the burden (including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information collection; they also will become a matter of public record. Dated: September 30, 2015. Sarah Brabson, NOAA PRA Clearance Officer. [FR Doc. 2015–25331 Filed 10–5–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–22–P DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE Patent and Trademark Office tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES [Docket No. PTO–P–2015–0049] Change in Practice Regarding Correction of Foreign Priority Claims United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:31 Oct 05, 2015 Jkt 238001 The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA) provided for publication of patent applications at eighteen months from the earliest filing date for which a benefit is claimed. Thus, the patent laws and regulations require that foreign priority or domestic benefit claims, specifying the application number, country (or intellectual property authority), and filing date of any foreign application for which priority is claimed and the application number of any domestic application for which benefit is claimed, be submitted in a timely manner to allow for publication at eighteen months from the earliest filing date for which a benefit is claimed. It has been United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) practice to require that any correction of the application number in a domestic benefit claim after the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim be via a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed benefit claim, but to permit correction of the application number in a foreign priority claim after the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim without such a petition. This dissimilar treatment of the correction of foreign priority claims and domestic benefit claims results in the publication of a corrected patent application publication reflecting the accurate domestic benefit claim information whenever an applicant corrects the application number in a domestic benefit claim in a pending application, but not whenever an applicant corrects the application number of the foreign application in a foreign priority claim. The rationale for the practice of permitting correction of the application number in a foreign priority claim without a petition was because the filing date of a prior foreign patent application did not affect the effective prior art date of a U.S. patent application publication and because the USPTO schedules publication of an application with the filing date provided by applicant in a foreign priority claim. The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), however, now provides that the filing date of an earlier foreign patent application may now be the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in a U.S. patent or a U.S. patent application publication. Therefore, U.S. patent application publications should reflect accurate foreign priority information to minimize the burden on examiners and members of the public in assessing the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in such U.S. patent application publications. The USPTO will thus now require that any SUMMARY: PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 60367 correction of the identification of the foreign application (by application number, country (or intellectual property authority), and filing date) in a foreign priority claim after the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim be via a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed priority claim, and once the petition is granted in a pending application, will now publish a corrected patent application publication reflecting the accurate foreign priority claim information. Requiring a petition and publishing a corrected patent application publication whenever an applicant corrects the application number in a foreign priority claim or a domestic benefit claim will provide for common treatment of the correction of the identification of a foreign or domestic application in a priority or benefit claim. The publication of a corrected patent application publication by the USPTO will result in corrected patent application publications with accurate foreign priority information which will benefit examiners, applicants and members of the public in assessing the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in a U.S. patent application publication. DATES: Effective Date: The change in this notice takes effect on November 5, 2015. Any corrections to the foreign application number in a foreign priority claim that were previously accepted are not affected by this change in practice. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugenia A. Jones, Senior Legal Advisor, by telephone at (571) 272–7727, or Erin M. Harriman, Legal Advisor, by telephone (571) 272–7747, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, or by mail addressed to: Mail Stop Comments— Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313–1450, marked to the attention of Eugenia A. Jones. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: In view of the AIPA, foreign priority or domestic benefit claims must be submitted in a timely manner to allow for publication of patent applications at eighteen months from the earliest filing date for which a benefit is claimed. See 35 U.S.C. 122(b). The requirements for making a domestic benefit claim are set forth in 37 CFR 1.78 and the requirements for making a foreign priority claim are set forth in 37 CFR 1.55. As provided in 37 CFR 1.55 and 1.78, the claim for priority or benefit must be filed within the later of four months from the actual filing date of the application or sixteen months from the filing date of the prior E:\FR\FM\06OCN1.SGM 06OCN1 tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 60368 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 193 / Tuesday, October 6, 2015 / Notices application (hereinafter referred to as the 4/16 month time period) in a patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a). Note that the 4/16 month time period does not apply to an application for a design patent or an application filed before November 29, 2000. A claim for foreign priority must identify the foreign application by specifying the application number, country (or intellectual property authority), and the filing date (day, month, and year) of the foreign application. See 37 CFR 1.55(d). It has been USPTO practice to require that any correction of the application number in a domestic benefit claim after the 4/16 month time period be via a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed benefit claim, but to permit correction of the application number in a foreign priority claim after the 4/16 month time period without such a petition (discussed in the EighteenMonth Publication Questions and Answers on the USPTO Web site). This dissimilar treatment of the correction of foreign priority claims and domestic benefit claims results in the publication of a corrected patent application publication reflecting the accurate domestic benefit claim information whenever an applicant corrects the application number in a domestic benefit claim in a pending application, but not whenever an applicant corrects the application number of the foreign application in a foreign priority claim. The rationale for this practice was because the USPTO was able to schedule the application for publication with the filing date of the foreign application provided by applicant and the prior art date under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e) of the publication was not affected. See the Patent FAQs Web page available at https://www.uspto.gov/help/ patent-help. Under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA, a U.S. patent or patent application publication may be effective as prior art as of the filing date of an earlier foreign application. See AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(d) and the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) (9th Ed. 2014), Section 2154.01(b). Therefore, the rationale for not requiring a petition to correct an error in the application number of a foreign priority claim is no longer appropriate. In view of the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA, U.S. patent application publications should reflect accurate foreign priority information to minimize the burden on examiners and members of the public in assessing the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in such U.S. patent application publications. VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:31 Oct 05, 2015 Jkt 238001 Change in Practice: The USPTO will now require compliance with all the requirements of 37 CFR 1.55 and thus require a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed claim for foreign priority under 37 CFR 1.55(e) in order to correct any error in a foreign priority claim if the correction is being made after the 4/16 month time period. This is consistent with the practice for correcting any error in a domestic benefit claim under 37 CFR 1.78 if the correction is being made after the 4/16 month time period and will result in a corrected patent application publication with the accurate foreign priority information being published by the USPTO for a pending application. Requiring compliance with all the requirements of 37 CFR 1.55 will create consistency between the practices under 37 CFR 1.55 and 1.78 and will result in corrected patent application publications with accurate foreign priority information being published by the USPTO. A U.S. patent application publication which claims priority to a foreign application that identifies the correct foreign application number, country (or intellectual property authority), and date of filing will help ensure that proper examination of patent applications being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA will occur. Identification of the correct foreign priority information on U.S. patent application publications will also minimize the burden on examiners and members of the public in obtaining a copy of the correct foreign priority document in the event that a copy is not available in the application file of the reference. This change in practice will benefit examiners, applicants, and members of the public by reducing any uncertainty caused by the dissimilar treatment of the correction of foreign priority claims and domestic benefit claims and by ensuring that a corrected U.S. patent application publication reflecting accurate foreign priority information will be published by the USPTO enabling accurate assessment of the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in U.S. patent application publications. The Patent FAQs will be modified to reflect that a petition under 37 CFR 1.55(e), including the petition fee, will be required to correct any error in a foreign priority claim after the 4/16 month period of 37 CFR 1.55(d). PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Dated: September 26, 2015. Michelle K. Lee, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. [FR Doc. 2015–25407 Filed 10–5–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3510–16–P DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION [Docket No.: ED–2015–ICCD–0118] Agency Information Collection Activities; Comment Request; Application for Grants Under the Talent Search Program Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE), Department of Education (ED). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. chapter 3501 et seq.), ED is proposing a reinstatement of a previously approved information collection. SUMMARY: Interested persons are invited to submit comments on or before December 7, 2015. ADDRESSES: To access and review all the documents related to the information collection listed in this notice, please use https://www.regulations.gov by searching the Docket ID number ED– 2015–ICCD–0118. Comments submitted in response to this notice should be submitted electronically through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https:// www.regulations.gov by selecting the Docket ID number or via postal mail, commercial delivery, or hand delivery. Please note that comments submitted by fax or email and those submitted after the comment period will not be accepted. Written requests for information or comments submitted by postal mail or delivery should be addressed to the Director of the Information Collection Clearance Division, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue SW., LBJ, Room 2E103, Washington, DC 20202–4537. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For specific questions related to collection activities, please contact Craig Pooler, 202–502–7640. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Education (ED), in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA) (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)), provides the general public and Federal agencies with an opportunity to comment on proposed, revised, and continuing collections of information. This helps the Department DATES: E:\FR\FM\06OCN1.SGM 06OCN1

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[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 193 (Tuesday, October 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60367-60368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-25407]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Patent and Trademark Office

[Docket No. PTO-P-2015-0049]


Change in Practice Regarding Correction of Foreign Priority 
Claims

AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 (AIPA) provided 
for publication of patent applications at eighteen months from the 
earliest filing date for which a benefit is claimed. Thus, the patent 
laws and regulations require that foreign priority or domestic benefit 
claims, specifying the application number, country (or intellectual 
property authority), and filing date of any foreign application for 
which priority is claimed and the application number of any domestic 
application for which benefit is claimed, be submitted in a timely 
manner to allow for publication at eighteen months from the earliest 
filing date for which a benefit is claimed. It has been United States 
Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) practice to require that any 
correction of the application number in a domestic benefit claim after 
the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim be via a 
petition to accept an unintentionally delayed benefit claim, but to 
permit correction of the application number in a foreign priority claim 
after the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim without 
such a petition. This dissimilar treatment of the correction of foreign 
priority claims and domestic benefit claims results in the publication 
of a corrected patent application publication reflecting the accurate 
domestic benefit claim information whenever an applicant corrects the 
application number in a domestic benefit claim in a pending 
application, but not whenever an applicant corrects the application 
number of the foreign application in a foreign priority claim. The 
rationale for the practice of permitting correction of the application 
number in a foreign priority claim without a petition was because the 
filing date of a prior foreign patent application did not affect the 
effective prior art date of a U.S. patent application publication and 
because the USPTO schedules publication of an application with the 
filing date provided by applicant in a foreign priority claim. The 
Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), however, now provides that the 
filing date of an earlier foreign patent application may now be the 
effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in a U.S. patent 
or a U.S. patent application publication. Therefore, U.S. patent 
application publications should reflect accurate foreign priority 
information to minimize the burden on examiners and members of the 
public in assessing the effective prior art date for subject matter 
disclosed in such U.S. patent application publications. The USPTO will 
thus now require that any correction of the identification of the 
foreign application (by application number, country (or intellectual 
property authority), and filing date) in a foreign priority claim after 
the time period for filing a priority or benefit claim be via a 
petition to accept an unintentionally delayed priority claim, and once 
the petition is granted in a pending application, will now publish a 
corrected patent application publication reflecting the accurate 
foreign priority claim information. Requiring a petition and publishing 
a corrected patent application publication whenever an applicant 
corrects the application number in a foreign priority claim or a 
domestic benefit claim will provide for common treatment of the 
correction of the identification of a foreign or domestic application 
in a priority or benefit claim. The publication of a corrected patent 
application publication by the USPTO will result in corrected patent 
application publications with accurate foreign priority information 
which will benefit examiners, applicants and members of the public in 
assessing the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in 
a U.S. patent application publication.

DATES: Effective Date: The change in this notice takes effect on 
November 5, 2015. Any corrections to the foreign application number in 
a foreign priority claim that were previously accepted are not affected 
by this change in practice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eugenia A. Jones, Senior Legal 
Advisor, by telephone at (571) 272-7727, or Erin M. Harriman, Legal 
Advisor, by telephone (571) 272-7747, Office of Patent Legal 
Administration, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for Patent 
Examination Policy, or by mail addressed to: Mail Stop Comments--
Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-
1450, marked to the attention of Eugenia A. Jones.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background: In view of the AIPA, foreign 
priority or domestic benefit claims must be submitted in a timely 
manner to allow for publication of patent applications at eighteen 
months from the earliest filing date for which a benefit is claimed. 
See 35 U.S.C. 122(b). The requirements for making a domestic benefit 
claim are set forth in 37 CFR 1.78 and the requirements for making a 
foreign priority claim are set forth in 37 CFR 1.55. As provided in 37 
CFR 1.55 and 1.78, the claim for priority or benefit must be filed 
within the later of four months from the actual filing date of the 
application or sixteen months from the filing date of the prior

[[Page 60368]]

application (hereinafter referred to as the 4/16 month time period) in 
a patent application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111(a). Note that the 4/16 
month time period does not apply to an application for a design patent 
or an application filed before November 29, 2000. A claim for foreign 
priority must identify the foreign application by specifying the 
application number, country (or intellectual property authority), and 
the filing date (day, month, and year) of the foreign application. See 
37 CFR 1.55(d).
    It has been USPTO practice to require that any correction of the 
application number in a domestic benefit claim after the 4/16 month 
time period be via a petition to accept an unintentionally delayed 
benefit claim, but to permit correction of the application number in a 
foreign priority claim after the 4/16 month time period without such a 
petition (discussed in the Eighteen-Month Publication Questions and 
Answers on the USPTO Web site). This dissimilar treatment of the 
correction of foreign priority claims and domestic benefit claims 
results in the publication of a corrected patent application 
publication reflecting the accurate domestic benefit claim information 
whenever an applicant corrects the application number in a domestic 
benefit claim in a pending application, but not whenever an applicant 
corrects the application number of the foreign application in a foreign 
priority claim. The rationale for this practice was because the USPTO 
was able to schedule the application for publication with the filing 
date of the foreign application provided by applicant and the prior art 
date under pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102(e) of the publication was not 
affected. See the Patent FAQs Web page available at https://www.uspto.gov/help/patent-help.
    Under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA, a U.S. 
patent or patent application publication may be effective as prior art 
as of the filing date of an earlier foreign application. See AIA 35 
U.S.C. 102(d) and the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) (9th 
Ed. 2014), Section 2154.01(b). Therefore, the rationale for not 
requiring a petition to correct an error in the application number of a 
foreign priority claim is no longer appropriate. In view of the first 
inventor to file provisions of the AIA, U.S. patent application 
publications should reflect accurate foreign priority information to 
minimize the burden on examiners and members of the public in assessing 
the effective prior art date for subject matter disclosed in such U.S. 
patent application publications.
    Change in Practice: The USPTO will now require compliance with all 
the requirements of 37 CFR 1.55 and thus require a petition to accept 
an unintentionally delayed claim for foreign priority under 37 CFR 
1.55(e) in order to correct any error in a foreign priority claim if 
the correction is being made after the 4/16 month time period. This is 
consistent with the practice for correcting any error in a domestic 
benefit claim under 37 CFR 1.78 if the correction is being made after 
the 4/16 month time period and will result in a corrected patent 
application publication with the accurate foreign priority information 
being published by the USPTO for a pending application.
    Requiring compliance with all the requirements of 37 CFR 1.55 will 
create consistency between the practices under 37 CFR 1.55 and 1.78 and 
will result in corrected patent application publications with accurate 
foreign priority information being published by the USPTO. A U.S. 
patent application publication which claims priority to a foreign 
application that identifies the correct foreign application number, 
country (or intellectual property authority), and date of filing will 
help ensure that proper examination of patent applications being 
examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA will 
occur. Identification of the correct foreign priority information on 
U.S. patent application publications will also minimize the burden on 
examiners and members of the public in obtaining a copy of the correct 
foreign priority document in the event that a copy is not available in 
the application file of the reference. This change in practice will 
benefit examiners, applicants, and members of the public by reducing 
any uncertainty caused by the dissimilar treatment of the correction of 
foreign priority claims and domestic benefit claims and by ensuring 
that a corrected U.S. patent application publication reflecting 
accurate foreign priority information will be published by the USPTO 
enabling accurate assessment of the effective prior art date for 
subject matter disclosed in U.S. patent application publications.
    The Patent FAQs will be modified to reflect that a petition under 
37 CFR 1.55(e), including the petition fee, will be required to correct 
any error in a foreign priority claim after the 4/16 month period of 37 
CFR 1.55(d).

    Dated: September 26, 2015.
Michelle K. Lee,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of 
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2015-25407 Filed 10-5-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-16-P
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