According to a press relsease from the USPTO today - the USPTO has teamed up with the UKIPO to develop a plan to reduce patent backlogs.  We will have to see how this actually works…

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) today agreed to develop an action plan for reducing patent processing backlogs in both offices. Patent backlogs hinder the deployment of innovation and have clear adverse effects on the global economy. According to a study by London Economics released on behalf of the UKIPO, the first study that attempts to quantify the economic impact of patent backlogs, the cost to the global economy of the delay in processing patent applications may be as much as £7.65 ($11.4) billion each year.

Today, David Lammy, UK Minister of State for Higher Education and Intellectual Property, and David Kappos, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO, committed both the UKIPO and the USPTO to develop a plan to optimize reuse of work on patent applications that are filed jointly at the USPTO and the UKIPO. To this end, the offices will identify all areas of reutilization potential by the end of this calendar year, and shall pursue measures designed to facilitate maximum reuse by building confidence in the work done by each office.

David Lammy said: “If we are serious about economic recovery, then we cannot sit back and watch good ideas go to waste. I want to see an international system that works efficiently to provide innovative businesses with high quality patents in the timescales they need. The UK is working hard to secure our competitive advantage in innovative, high-growth sectors like advanced manufacturing, the life sciences, low-carbon and others. Patents act as a short-term reward to innovators, so that they offset the costs involved in developing their ideas. I welcome the joint working that we have agreed with David Kappos today to tackle this issue head on to reduce unnecessary duplication of work and maintain quality between patent offices.”

David Kappos said: “Every quality patent application that sits on the shelf represents jobs not created. For that reason, the USPTO has made reduction of the patent backlog our highest priority. At the USPTO, we have already undertaken substantial reform of our system for processing patent applications. Work-sharing is an important feature of this reform. Thus far, however, our work-sharing efforts at the USPTO have largely been applicant driven and therefore dependent on whether individual applicants know about, and appreciate, the clear benefits of work-sharing. So I am particularly delighted that we are today embracing with the UK an office-driven mechanism for reutilization of work.”

To read the entire press release click below:

http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2010/10_09.jsp

Clearance research is a fundamental tool in opinion drafting and business decision-making tool for corporate management.  Express Search offers detailed clearance research allowing our clients the flexibility to focus on drafting opinions, amendments, and briefs while having peace of mind regarding due diligence and strength within the market.  Clearance research has become a standard method of judging product value in the intangible asset marketplace.   This research is in higher demand as companies are forced to consider the increased probability of legal scrutiny.  Clearance research includes an infringement search in addition to searching expired patents that may provide a “safe harbor” for a specific product, process, or service.  Our researchers address both infringement and novelty concerns with the ultimate goal of giving the client the ability to offer a solid legal opinion regarding the barriers to entry into a particular field of technology or market.

For more information on Clearance results, pricing, and other benefits, please call us at 703-535-5455.

One of the secrets to Express Search’s quality results is our research staff, consisting of professionals like Elizabeth Shaw whose expertise in Clearance research is in demand.In the following interview, she discusses the research benefits of a varied scientific and professional background.

ES: Briefly describe your research experience.

Shaw: My studies were in the hard sciences - biology and chemistry - with years of professional development and focus in related mechanical and electrical devices.  My eclectic searching career began in the Patent Office where I was placed in the Animal Husbandry unit as well as Dental and Toiletries. Animal Husbandry required me to search in diverse classes (e.g. robotics, , conveyors,  chemical compositions, etc).  I eventually moved to Plant Husbandry where I covered additional technical areas (e.g. fertilizers, irrigation systems, compost compositions, etc).  In the private sector, I became a sort of catch-all searcher due to my range of technical expertise.  These diverse research and professional experiences have given me a unique background and basis for my searching.

ES:  How has research in the mechanical arts versus the chemical arts changed in the past few years?

Shaw: Searching in the mechanical arts now seems to be either simplified or complicated.  The devices are now either very simple (e.g. an improved trash bag or baby bottle) or much more complex (e.g. a diaper bag with speakers and phone capabilities).

Searching the chemical arts has remained more consistent.  The chemical compositions are either as simple or as complex as they have always been despite new uses for older compositions.  The main changes in chemical research are the techniques to create new compositions, such as computer models, which is becoming more widely used, and technologies which produce better equipment faster, such as compound-making robots.

ES: How does your expertise in both the mechanical and chemical arts assist in research techniques?

Shaw: I believe my mixed background in researching allows me to approach the search creatively from several different angles.  Chemical searching can be rigid as searches are conducted for chemical names, derivatives, or other related names that are well known with little deviation.

In the mechanical arts, one item may be known by many common words.  I use multiple word/synonym searching techniques with all my searches, mechanical and chemical, to the extent that is possible.  This couples the chemical name with other words and versions of the words in search of the related chemical technique, method, additive, etc. This uncovers elements unique to one patent while still bringing in the widest range of results possible.

 

An article from the Express Search March 2010 Newsletter.

The inundation of downloadable reading materials via new electronic search engines or “tethered” reading devices has created multiple challenges for both copyright holders and rights of device users. Large providers such as Google and Amazon have both faced suits with the promise of more time in court or in negotiation before standards are set.

In the case of Google’s Book Search scanning project, issues have arisen both in and out of court with The Authors Guild, the Association of American Publishers and other publishing entities representing copyright holders. The $125 million settlement included such concessions as purchasing options, author/publisher access control, and a Google-funded “Book Rights Registry” for fee and other book management (1).

The greatest benefit, according to many authors and readers, is access to out-of-print books, citing the success of increased revenue through the semi-controlled experiment of ‘Baen’s Free Library/Webscriptions’ (2). “The transition to digital opens great opportunities for scholarship…Once we sort out the mess, these valuable resources can be found [and] their author’s recognized” (3). The “author-friendly…free e-marketing” is being hailed by many authors frustrated with their current publishers (4).

The settlement has been more recently contested by both US and European interests, particularly competing corporations in electronic reading sales, such as Amazon, who claim Google is creating a anti-trust situation. Main arguments revolve around pre-scanning copyright consent, i.e. default inclusion particularly of in-copyright, out-of-print books. Opponents claim the settlement rules out the existence of liability (5).

Amazon has had its own troubles with its ‘Kindle’ technology, most notably with the question of ownership of digital book purchases. Amazon recently had to remote wipe several inadvertently incorrectly licensed digital books, giving rise to the debate over expectation of ownership of licensed data stored in an ‘owned’ file kept on a tethered device. “Connected appliances will tempt regulatory intervention” and questions are already arising as to whether or not censorship would be a natural outcropping of this circumstance (6).

(1) http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=10601
(2) Posted by jjmcgaffey/10/28/08 - http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2008/10/google-authors/
(3) Posted by TJ/10/28/08 - http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2008/10/google-authors/
(4) Posted by Fred/10/28/08 - http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2008/10/google-authors/
(5) http://www.ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/09/18/opposition-to-aspects-of-google-book-project-settlement-mounts/ - Bruce Gain
(6) http://ip-watch.org/weblog/2009/09/29/regulators-role-seen-rising-as-e-content-tied-to-devices - Dugie Standeford

With an impressive resume and a desire to implement substantive changes in process and procedures at the USPTO, newly appointed Director Kappos is off to a running start. Optimism and well-wishes have abounded in the IP community, despite the lackluster appeal of proposed “reform” and rule changes.

During a speech in November to the Independent Inventors Conference, Kappos outlined his main goals: 1. Postgrant process legislation as an alternative to litigation which dissuades “serial challenges” and increases “value and enforceability.” 2. Economic realities have caused a significant deficit in the PTO budget, however discounts to inventors and microentities will not be affected, despite the possibility that fees may be raised in other areas. 3. Pendency reduction procedure initiatives include a “pre-first action interview program,” the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) program for international filing, and a recalculation of the examiner credit (”count”) system allotting more time for first action review, in addition to inter-procedural streamlining, IT infrastructure upgrading, and a ‘application swap’ pilot program allowing inventors to bump a newer application up the queue in exchange for abandonment of a pending, unexamined application. 4. A “first inventor to file” system as distinguished from a “first to file” system.

Other new appointees include Bob Stoll who replaces John Doll as Commissioner of Patents. His diverse 27 year agency experience includes Administrator of Legislative Affairs, Director of Enforcement, and Dean of Training and Education. The new Deputy Commissioner, Peggy Focarino, has been integral in new examiner training processes and the teleworking programs. Finally, Sharon Barner, Deputy Director under Kappos, brings top international patent litigation experience to the team. Additionally, a new USTR, Michael Punke, and FTC Chairman, Jon Leibowitz, join the fray. The diverse public/private professional experiences of these appointees will make realization of Kappos’ general goals either a greater challenge or an easier outcome. Time will tell.

The Express Search March 2010 newsletter has been mailed out so be sure to check your mailbox in the next few days!

Click on the link below for the PDF version.

March 2010 Newsletter

An interesting article from the AP (last week). According to the UN, the number of international patent filings dropped last year for the first time since 1978 as companies hit by the global economic downturn sought fewer new protections on their intellectual property.Not surprising, most of the filed in 2009 were for computer technology, followed by pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. Innovations in computer chip design and nanotechnology saw the greatest rise in patents.

“The World Intellectual Property Organization, or WIPO, received about 155,900 international patent filings last year, a drop of 4.5 percent compared with the nearly 164,000 filings received a year earlier.”

“Inventors in the United States still registered the highest number of international patents - 45,790, or almost a third of the total. But U.S. filings were down 11 percent compared with 2008.”

For the rest of the article:
http://news.findlaw.com/ap/f/1310/02-08-2010/20100208080511_20.html

According to an article in Haaretz.com, Israel has reached an agreement with the United States over intellectual property rights, after a decade of disagreement. Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said yesterday that the two countries have reached an understanding which will remove Israel from the blacklist of nations that violate intellectual property rights. This has been an agreement that has been 10 years in the making.

Click on the link below for the rest of the article:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1150947.html

The USPTO has shut its doors February 8 - 11, 2010 due to the record snow fall in the Washington DC region.  They are expected to reopen tomorrow, February 12, 2010.

See Press Release below:

http://uspto.gov/news/index_emergency.jsp

According to a press release issued by the USPTO yesterday (February 1, 2010)  in response to President Obama’s 2011 Budget - USPTO Director David Kappos announced that the USPTO will be hiring 2,000 patent examiners (1,000 in FY 2011 and 1,000 in FY 2012) over the next two years.

These examiners will be “former patent examiners and IP professionals who will require minimal training and can be productive virtually from the start of their employment”.

Read the entire press release at the following link:

http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2010/10_07.jsp