The USPTO has released the final rules to implement the provisions of the America Invents Act effective September 16, 2012.
The final rules relate to:
- Preissuance Submission: Mechanism by which the public can block issuance of a patent.
- Inventor’s Oath/Declaration requirements: Relaxes the requirements so that it is easier to resolve issues related to uncooperative inventors.
- Supplemental examination: Broadens reexamination and also used as a vehicle to block potential charges of inequitable conduct during litigation.
- Inter-partes, Post grant review, derivation proceedings and covered business methods: Discusses procedural rules and fees. Procedures and fees are important since they oftentimes dictate strategy and winners/losers.
- Covered business methods: Provides a mechanism to challenge patentability of patents related to “covered business methods”.
- Citation of prior art in patent file: Rules related to submission of prior art and statements made by the patent owner.
I invite you to contact me with your patent questions at (949) 433-0900 or [email protected]. Please feel free to forward this article to your friends. As an Orange County Patent Lawyer, I serve Orange County, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and surrounding cities.