Success with Post-Prosecution Pilot (P3) Program

October, 28th, 2016

Categories: Blog, News Tags: patent, USPTO, whipgroup

WHIPgroup successfully used the USPTO’s new P3 program for an application directed to computer software for alerting an operator of a condition in an industrial system. The application received a Final Office Action that rejected the claims as obvious over multiple prior art references. WHIPgroup argued in the P3 request that the USPTO had failed to cite sufficient motivation for the combination, that the prior art discouraged the combination, and that the combination would not result in the claimed invention in any event. The P3 panel agreed with WHIPgroup’s arguments and the case was subsequently allowed without the need for either an Appeal or a Request for Continued Examination (RCE).