The USPTO launched the Post-Prosecution Pilot (P3) Program, which seeks to improve upon two other post-final rejection programs including the After Final Consideration Program and the Pre-Appeal Brief Conference Program. P3 provides the benefit of having a panel of examiners – i.e., assistant examiner, primary examiner, supervisor – review the application like in the Pre-Appeal pilot program, but does not require the filing of a Notice of Appeal and associated official fee. It also gives applicants an opportunity to make an oral presentation to the panel and explain the differences between their invention and cited prior art.
In its initial pilot phase, this program will continue for 6-months or 1600 applications. WHIPgroup will be evaluating P3 in the coming months.
On August 21, the WHIPgroup Tech Entrepreneur Meetup will delve into the fast-moving world of data science as applied to programmatic media strategies. Our speaker will be Mike Kalman, CEO of Stamford-based Media Crossing. Media [Read More…]
WHIPgroup attorneys successfully appealed an obviousness rejection for a patent application directed to a flexible medical instrument. WHIPgroup argued that one skilled in the art would not appreciate the prior art’s “pinion and rack gears” [Read More…]
By Benjamin N. Luehrs and Hao Zhang Inter Partes Review (IPR) is an effective procedure for invalidating a competitor’s patent whereby a petitioner cites other patents and printed publications (i.e., “prior art”) to argue that [Read More…]