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

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is hosting its third annual Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) meeting with industry users at its Alexandria Campus. CPC is a bilateral classification system jointly developed by the USPTO and the European Patent Office (EPO). CPC is jointly managed and maintained by both offices, and is available for public search for classification. The upcoming meeting is open to the public and will inform attendees on the latest and upcoming developments concerning the CPC. The meeting also will be an opportunity for attendees to share their views about the CPC.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on the extension of a continuing information collection, as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).

In 2006, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) introduced the accelerated examination program to permit an application to be advanced out of turn if the applicant files a grantable petition under the program. Since its institution, the patent landscape has witnessed numerous legal changes such as the America Invents Act (AIA), the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act (PLTIA) implementing the provisions of the Patent Law Treaty (PLT), and the USPTO's adoption of the Cooperative Patent Classification system (CPC) along with changes to USPTO systems. Accordingly, the Office is updating the accelerated examination program to reflect these changes in the law and examination practice.