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Intellectual Property News
USPTO Grants First Patent Under New Accelerated Review Option
The Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) today announced it has issued the first patent under its accelerated examination program that began in August 2006. The patent, for a printer ink gauge, was filed with the USPTO on September 29, 2006, and was awarded to Brother International, Ltd. on March 13, 2007. Average review time for applications in the ink cartridge technology area is 25.4 months. This patent issued in 6 months, a time savings of 18 months for the patent holder.
"Accelerated examination allows any innovator in any technology to get a full patent review and decision within twelve months," noted Jon Dudas, under secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. In return for cutting the time to obtain a patent decision by 25-75%, the agency asks the applicant for a better application and process. Inventors who want speedy results can get them, so long as they help improve the process."
To be eligible for accelerated examination, applicants are required to provide specific information, known as an examiner support document, so that review of the application can be completed rapidly and accurately. In return, the USPTO issues a final decision by the examiner within 12 months on whether their application for a patent will be granted or denied.
Any invention that is new, useful, non-obvious, and which is accompanied by a written description disclosing how to make and use it can be patented. Applicants' submissions enjoy a presumption of patentability. Thus, to reject an application the USPTO is responsible for ensuring that any evidence indicating that the invention is not new or is obvious (known as "prior art") is identified and explaining why the invention is not patentable in view of the evidence. Read more at uspto.gov.
Gatt sets a standard of norms to follow.
All GATT member-countries calls for rewriting their national laws to conform to internationally agreed standards for protecting patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, and trade secrets.
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Definition:
Refers to a work that is based on, or modifies, one or more preexisting works. A copyright owner has the exclusive right to prepare or authorize the preparation of a derivative work based on the copyrighted work. If a derivative work, considered as a whole, represents an original work of authorship, it may be separately copyrightable.
Equivalents
Definition:
A rule of claim interpretation under which a product or process, although not a literal infringement, is still an infringement if it performs substantially the same way as the patented invention.
Special 301
Definition:
U.S. statutory provisions requiring annual review of trade agreement rights and foreign trade practices of U.S. trading partners that deny benefits to the United States or unjustifiably restrict or burden U.S. commerce.
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