Patent and Trademark Office – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

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.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) makes corrections to a final rule published on October 14, 2021, that amended the rules of practice to permit higher-capacity physical media to be submitted to the USPTO. This rule fixes typographical errors.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is delaying indefinitely the implementation of the voluntary continuing legal education (CLE) certification. The USPTO anticipates providing at least 120 days' notice prior to any implementation of the voluntary CLE certification.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking comments on its plan to begin issuing electronic trademark registration certificates in the spring of 2022. Upon issuance, the electronic registration certificate will be the official registration certificate. After the USPTO begins issuing electronic registration certificates, trademark owners will have the option to order paper ``presentation'' copies for a fee. They will also continue to be able to order certified copies of their trademark registrations. This notice outlines the USPTO's plan and requests comments from U.S. trademark owners, practitioners, and other interested parties regarding their views about this plan.

The USPTO proposes to amend the patent rules of practice to provide that the receipt date of correspondence officially submitted electronically by way of the Office electronic filing system is the date in the Eastern time zone of the United States (Eastern Time) when the USPTO received the correspondence, rather than the date on which the correspondence is received at the correspondence address in Alexandria, Virginia. This is because the USPTO is expecting to provide physical servers for receiving electronic submissions in locations that are separate from the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. This proposed change will ensure consistency and predictability with respect to correspondence receipt dates as the date of receipt accorded to correspondence submitted electronically will not depend upon the location of USPTO servers. The USPTO is also proposing to amend the patent rules of practice to make other clarifying changes regarding the receipt of electronic submissions, including providing a definition for Eastern Time. These changes will harmonize the patent rules with the trademark rules and provide clarity regarding the date of receipt of electronic submissions.

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- 0066 (Patents for Humanity Program). 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 or Office) published a final rule in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020, that includes a fee for patent applications that are not filed in DOCX format, except for design, plant, or provisional applications. This new fee was scheduled to become effective on January 1, 2022. Through this final rule, the USPTO is delaying the effective date of this fee until January 1, 2023.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is amending the rules of practice to permit higher-capacity physical media to be submitted to the USPTO. Patent applications for certain inventions require significant data in American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) plain text format to be submitted to the USPTO in order to determine whether the invention described in the patent application is patentable. When submission of such data exceeds the USPTO's patent electronic filing system capacity, submission of large data submission in ASCII plain text format can be made on physical media. To that end, the rules of practice are amended to provide applicants with the ability to use physical media larger than compact discs (CDs) for submission of data in ASCII plain text format, such as an electronic version of amino acid and nucleotide sequence information, information compiled in a large table, or information related to a computer program listing. Additionally, extraction of compressed data files, which had not been permitted in the past for certain submissions, will be permitted if the compressed data files are compliant with the requirements of the rules. Other rules related to certain obsolete and non-secure methods of presenting data are eliminated.

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- 0071 (Matters Relating to First Inventor to File). 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. 6,406,699 (`699 patent).

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. 7,524,879 (`879 patent).

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. 7,057,053 (`053 patent).

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) previously published a notice requesting comments on the implementation of certain administrative updates to the General Requirements Bulletin for Admission to the Examination for Registration to Practice in Patent Cases Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (GRB). The USPTO has considered the comments and, based on the support for the proposals, is implementing the updates to the GRB. There are three categories of technical and scientific qualifications that may typically make applicants eligible to sit for the registration examination: Category A for specified bachelor's degrees, Category B for other bachelor's degrees with technical and scientific training, and Category C for practical engineering or scientific experience, which may be demonstrated by passing the Fundamentals of Engineering test. Based on the USPTO's evaluation and comments received, the USPTO is changing the criteria to: Add common Category B degrees to Category A, accept advanced degrees (i.e., master's and doctor of philosophy degrees) under Category A, and accept a combination of core sciences under Category B, Options 2 and 4, so long as one of the core science courses has a lab component.

On July 9, 2021, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a request for public input on a study it is conducting on the current state of patent eligibility jurisprudence in the United States and on how that jurisprudence has impacted investment and innovation. Through this notice, the USPTO is extending the period for public comment until October 15, 2021.

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- 0070 (Fee Deficiency Submissions). 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), as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, invites comments on the extension and revision of an existing information collection: 0651- 0064 (Patent Reexaminations, Supplemental Examinations, and Post Patent Submissions). The purpose of this notice is to allow 60 days for public comment preceding submission of the information collection to OMB.

At the request of Senators Tillis, Hirono, Cotton, and Coons, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is undertaking a study on the current state of patent eligibility jurisprudence in the United States, and how the current jurisprudence has impacted investment and innovation, particularly in critical technologies like quantum computing, artificial intelligence, precision medicine, diagnostic methods, and pharmaceutical treatments. The USPTO seeks public input on these matters to assist in preparing the study.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) revises the rules of practice in patent cases to eliminate the requirement for original handwritten signatures on certain correspondence with the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) and certain payments made to the USPTO by credit card.