Patent and Trademark Office October 29, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI) Nomination Evaluation Committee will meet in closed session on November 9, 2018. The primary purpose of the meeting is to discuss the relative merits of persons, teams, and companies nominated for the NMTI.

This Request for Comments seeks public input on certain practices and procedures that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (``PTAB'' or ``Board'') of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (``Office'' or ``USPTO'') proposes regarding motions to amend filed in inter partes reviews (``IPR''), post-grant reviews (``PGR''), and covered business method patent reviews (``CBM'') pursuant to the provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (``AIA'') providing for trial proceedings before the Office. Specifically, the Office seeks input on a proposed amendment process that would involve a preliminary non-binding decision by the Board that provides information to the parties regarding the merits of a motion to amend, and an opportunity for a patent owner to revise its motion to amend thereafter. In addition, the Office seeks input on a proposed pilot program implementing the new amendment process. The Office also seeks input regarding whether the Office should continue to allocate the burden of persuasion regarding patentability of substitute claims as set forth in a recent informative Board decision, as well as any suggestions the public may have as to motion to amend practice before the Board generally.