Posts in Government

Not long ago the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a decision in Abbott Laboratories v. Sandoz, Inc., a decision that just screams for Congress to codify Rule 56 and settle once and for all the duty of candor that is owed to the Patent Office during the patent application process. To be perfectly clear, it…

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is now accepting nominations for its National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI) program. Since establishment by Congress in 1980, the President of the United States has awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation (formerly known as the National Medal of Technology) annually to our Nation’s leading innovators. If you know of a…

There have been many rumors about the impending resignation about Jon Dudas, the Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property appointed by President Bush in 2004.  Patently-O announced on January 6, 2009, that Dudas would be stepping down by mid-January, which does not appear to have happened.  What is clear, however, is that President Obama has not yet chosen a new…

I confess, it was me who fed Gene Quinn the erroneous info about Steve Kunin heading back the US PTO. I made an erroneous assumption when, in casual conversation with Steve at a Vail, Colorado CLE event, I asked Steve whether he was in touch with the Obama transition team and whether this might lead to his certain appointment as…

On Tuesday, January 13, 2009, I wrote an article Nominating Gary Griswold for PTO Director.  In this article it was incorrectly stated that Steve Kunin was leaving private practice and was returning to the USPTO.  While my source was correct with respect to Kunin heading up a Reexamination/Reissue division, it is the Oblon Spivak Reexamination/Reissue Practice Group that Kunin will…

Over the past several months I have been nominating individuals who I think would make a good choice for the next Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, also known as the Director of the USPTO.  It is my belief that the patent crisis that faces us requires that President-elect Obama nominate someone who is not only familiar with innovation and…

EDITORIAL NOTE:EDITORIAL NOTE: This post was originally published on October 14, 2008, by the PLI Patent Practice Center Blog. It has since become unavailable, so it is been republished here on IPWatchdog.com. As the Presidential election continues I want to put forth the name of another person that I think is qualified to be the next Under Secretary of Commerce…

EDITORIAL NOTE: This post was originally published on October 6, 2008, by the PLI Patent Practice Center Blog. It has since become unavailable, so it is been republished here on IPWatchdog.com. As the Presidential election continues to heat up it is time for me to start compiling names of those who I think are qualified to be the next Under…

I hope and dream of the day when we get leadership at the PTO that will try and solve problems and reach out to the Patent Bar and see us as a part of the solution instead of the problem.  But as I said in my post yesterday on 7 reform suggestions for Congress, I doubt any of these will be…

So far no one knows who President-Elect Barack Obama will appoint to be the Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, a position known in the industry as the Director of the United States Patent & Trademark Office.  Right about now the appointment of a new PTO Director is likely the farthest thing from Obama’s mind given that recent reports suggest…

It is that time of the year when everyone makes their resolutions, most of which are sure to be broken almost immediately in most cases, particularly when the resolution deals with losing weight or exercising.  Not to be deterred, I have made both of those resolutions myself and I am cautiously optimistic about the likelihood that I will stay the course…

Over the past several years I have been a harsh critic of the United States Patent & Trademark Office because there are substantial problems facing the US patent system and I do not believe any of the reforms urged by the USPTO are calculated in any meaningful way to address those problems.  According to the recently released 2008 USPTO Performance…

Those who regularly read IPWatchdog.com may remember that on August 25, 2008, I wrote that the United States Patent & Trademark Office had finally, once and for all put an end to invention scams thanks to the fact that they had adopted new rules that would significantly impact who can engage in the representation of clients before the USPTO on…

The United States Patent & Trademark Office finally posted on its website an announcement that the new appeals rules that were to go into effect today, December 10, 2008, have been held up and will not go into effect.  Here is the announcement on the Patent Office website: In the December 10, 2008 edition of the Federal Register, the USPTO…

Anyone who has followed my writings over the past couple years knows that I have become increasingly critical of the political appointees who have been put in positions of authority at the Patent Office.  Nevertheless, I do want to be a part of the solution to the greatest extent possible.  With this in mind I have been writing about individuals…