Patent and Trademark Office January 2005 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (Consolidated Appropriations Act), revises patent fees in general, and provides for a search fee and examination fee that are separate from the filing fee, during fiscal years 2005 and 2006. This final rule revises the patent fees set forth in the rules of practice to conform them to the patent fees set forth in the Consolidated Appropriations Act.

The Cooperative Research and Technology Enhancement Act of 2004 (CREATE Act) amends the patent laws to provide that subject matter developed by another person shall be treated as owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person for purposes of determining obviousness if three conditions are met: The claimed invention was made by or on behalf of parties to a joint research agreement that was in effect on or before the date the claimed invention was made; the claimed invention was made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of the joint research agreement; and the application for patent for the claimed invention discloses or is amended to disclose the names of the parties to the joint research agreement. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is revising the rules of practice in patent cases to implement the CREATE Act.