Patent and Trademark Office May 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

Trademark Fee Adjustment
Document Number: 2016-12571
Type: Proposed Rule
Date: 2016-05-27
Agency: Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) proposes to set or increase certain trademark fees, as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). The proposed fees will allow the Office to recover the aggregate estimated cost of Trademark and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) operations and USPTO administrative services that support Trademark operations. The proposals will further USPTO strategic objectives by: Better aligning fees with the full cost of products and services; protecting the integrity of the register by incentivizing more timely filing or examination of applications and other filings and more efficient resolution of appeals and trials; and promoting the efficiency of the process, in large part through lower-cost electronic filing options.
USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Program
Document Number: 2016-12498
Type: Rule
Date: 2016-05-27
Agency: Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (``Office'' or ``USPTO'') is issuing a final rule to comply with a Public Law enacted on December 16, 2014. This law requires the USPTO Director to establish regulations and procedures for application to, and participation in, the USPTO Law School Clinic Certification Program. The program allows students enrolled in a participating law school's clinic to practice patent and trademark law before the USPTO under the direct supervision of an approved faculty clinic supervisor by drafting, filing, and prosecuting patent or trademark applications, or both, on a pro bono basis for clients who qualify for assistance from the law school's clinic.
Use of WIPO's ePCT System for Preparing the PCT Request for Filing as Part of an International Application With the USPTO as Receiving Office
Document Number: 2016-10733
Type: Notice
Date: 2016-05-06
Agency: Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO), in its capacity as a PCT Receiving Office (RO/US), will begin to accept international applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) that are filed electronically with a PCT Request prepared in the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) ePCT system. ePCT allows users to generate a zip file containing a validated PCT Request; the zip file can then be submitted electronically to the RO/US as part of an international application filed using the USPTO's electronic filing system (EFS-Web). Because WIPO's ePCT system is web- based and the servers that support the system are located outside the United States, users of ePCT are reminded that the export of subject matter abroad pursuant to a foreign filing license from the USPTO is limited to purposes related to the filing of foreign applications, which include international applications filed in a Receiving Office other than the RO/US. A foreign filing license does not authorize the export of subject matter into ePCT for generating a PCT Request for filing with the RO/US. Persons who are considering the use of WIPO's ePCT system for preparation of the PCT Request for filing as part of an international application with the RO/US should consider contacting the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) at the Department of Commerce, the Directorate of Defense Trade Controls (DDTC) at the Department of State, or the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) at the Department of Energy for the appropriate clearances where the international application may include technology subject to export controls.
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