When an applicant appeals a rejection of a USPTO examiner and files an appeal brief, an appeal conference is held at the USPTO. The appeal conference includes the examiner and two other participants, as explained in the MPEP. MPEP 1207.01 Appeal Conference An appeal conference is mandatory in all cases in which an acceptable brief…

Indiana University’s Legal Clinic Scores at the PTAB

Mr. IP Law Blog Turns 5 Wow – can’t believe it has been five years of blogging. Thank you to all of our readers for the feedback and energy. Looking forward to another 5 (at least)!

When an applicant combines closed and open-ended language – what is the scope?

Examiners tend to think of many rules from the MPEP as per se rules. It clearly makes things easier, but many times the rules to be applied are not so black and white. A great example is the idea that it is per se obvious to integrate two components into a single component. Many examiners…

New USPTO program for improving oral advocacy before the PTAB.

And potentially new strategies might be available that take advantage of these extensions to a greater extent than merely delaying fees.

A famous 17th Century scientist and philosopher provides some advice that patent prosecutors may find helpful in terms of examiner psychology.

Data analysis of USPTO rejections show that the 2019 Guidelines have had a significant effect.

Having dealt with the iPhone design, the Federal Circuit now turns to iPhone cases.