Patent and Trademark Office 2022 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

To continue to support the acceleration of innovations in the fight against COVID-19 during the public health emergency, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is extending the modified COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, which provides prioritized examination of certain patent applications. Requests that are compliant with the pilot program's requirements and are filed on or before February 15, 2023, will be accepted. The USPTO will evaluate whether to further extend the program during this extension period.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and United States Copyright Office (USCO) (collectively, the Offices) published a request for comments in the Federal Register on November 23, 2022, seeking comments from the public on various intellectual property (IP) law and policy issues associated with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Through this notice, the Offices are extending the period for written public comment until February 3, 2023. In addition, the Offices are changing the dates of the public roundtables in this study.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is implementing the Cancer Moonshot Expedited Examination Pilot Program to replace the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program, which expedited examination for eligible patent applications pertaining to methods of treating a cancer using immunotherapy. The new pilot program broadens the scope of qualifying technologies. Applications accepted into the new pilot program will be advanced out of turn (accorded special status) for examination until a first Office action. The new pilot program supports the renewed national Cancer Moonshot initiative that aims to reduce the cancer mortality rate by at least 50% within 25 years. This notice outlines the conditions, eligibility requirements, and guidelines of the new pilot program.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is reopening the comment period for the proposed rule titled ``Standardization of the Patent Term Adjustment Statement Regarding Information Disclosure Statements'' that was published in the Federal Register on July 12, 2022. The proposed rule's comment period, which ended on September 12, 2022, is extended until December 2, 2022. In addition, the USPTO will treat as timely any comment that was received between September 12, 2022, and November 18, 2022.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651- 0073 Patent Law Treaty. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Department of Commerce, in collaboration with the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Health and Human Services, is announcing a public listening session on January 19, 2023, titled ``Listening Session on Joint USPTO-FDA Collaboration Initiatives.'' The purpose of the listening session is to seek public comments on proposed initiatives for collaboration between the agencies to advance President Biden's Executive Order on ``Promoting Competition in the American Economy'' and to promote greater access to medicines for American families. To assist in gathering public input, the USPTO and the FDA are announcing the establishment of a docket to track feedback received through this notice and a request for comments on these collaborative efforts.

In this request for comments, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) seeks public input on the requirements to practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board). The Office seeks to ensure quality representation in PTAB proceedings under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) without creating undue restrictions or barriers to entry for practitioners wishing to appear before the PTAB. The Office's goal is to expand the admission criteria to practice before the PTAB so more Americans, including those from traditionally under-represented and under-resourced communities, can participate in Office practice, while maintaining the Office's high standards necessary for the issuance and maintenance of robust and reliable intellectual property rights.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues this final rule to incorporate classification changes adopted by the Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Agreement). These changes are listed in the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks (Nice Classification), which is published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and will become effective on January 1, 2023.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is extending the Motion to Amend (MTA) Pilot Program, initiated on March 15, 2019, and first extended on September 16, 2021. The MTA Pilot Program provides additional options for a patent owner who files an MTA in an America Invents Act (AIA) trial proceeding before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). In particular, the program provides a patent owner who files an MTA with options to request preliminary guidance from the PTAB on the MTA and to file a revised MTA. The MTA Pilot Program also provides timelines for briefing to accommodate these options.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued an order granting a one-year interim extension of the term of U.S. Patent No. 6,406,699 ('699 patent).

On June 29, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) implemented the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program in support of the White House's National Cancer Moonshot initiative, which sought to accelerate cancer research. The program permits patent applications pertaining to cancer immunotherapy to be advanced out of turn for examination. To date, over 880 petitions requesting participation in the pilot program have been filed, and over 650 patents have been granted under the program. In view of the continued interest in the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program, as well as the White House's reignition of the National Cancer Moonshot initiative, the USPTO is extending the program, with all parameters remaining the same, until January 31, 2023. The USPTO will also continue to evaluate whether to expand the scope of the pilot program and to what extent during this extension period.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651- 0046 Legal Processes. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) proposes to amend the rules of practice in patent cases and the rules regarding the representation of others before the USPTO to better protect the public and improve compliance with USPTO requirements. In particular, this rulemaking proposes to formalize the USPTO's Diversion Pilot Program for patent and trademark practitioners whose physical or mental health issues or law practice management issues resulted in minor misconduct. Formalizing the Pilot would align USPTO disciplinary practice with a majority of states and provide practitioners an opportunity to address the root causes of such misconduct. In addition, the USPTO proposes to require foreign attorneys or agents granted reciprocal recognition in trademark matters to provide and update their contact and status information or have their recognition withdrawn so the public will have access to up-to-date information. Also, the USPTO proposes to defer to state bars regarding fee sharing between practitioners and non-practitioners to reduce the potential for conflicts between USPTO and state bar rules. Further, the USPTO proposes to remove a fee required when changing one's status from a patent agent to a patent attorney and to make minor adjustments to other rules related to the representation of others before the USPTO.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651- 0082 Patent and PTAB Pro Bono Programs. The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. The USPTO invites comment on this information collection. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on May 24, 2022 during a 60-day comment period. This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comments.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651- 0057 (Patents External Quality Survey). The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued an order granting a one-year interim extension of the term of U.S. Patent No. 8,858,612.

The Acting Chief Financial Officer/Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Administration, with the concurrence of the General Services Administration, renewed the Charter for the National Medal of Technology and Innovation Nomination Evaluation Committee (NMTI Committee) on February 9, 2022.

As part of the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO or Office) continuing efforts to protect the integrity of the U.S. trademark register, the Commissioner for Trademarks (Commissioner) has established an administrative process for investigating submissions filed with the USPTO in trademark matters that appear to violate the Trademark Rules of Practice, including the rules concerning signatures, certificates, and representation of others in trademark matters before the USPTO (collectively, the USPTO rules), and/or the USPTO website's Terms of Use; and imposing sanctions, as appropriate.