A previous post illustrated the USPTO’s use of Exemption 6 to deny FOIA requests and one reason why such reasoning is improper (i.e.,  that the requested documents did not meet the threshold for the type of information protected by Exemption 6). Here, some of the additional requirements of Exemption 6 are analyzed with regard to whether there is any protectable privacy interest in public…

Unfortunately, most examiners never experience dealing with the USPTO as an inventor. However, there is at least one former examiner who is now an inventor and representing himself pro se before the Office with respect to an invention for a Handle for Tablet Computers.  So far, the inventor has had to use every bit of…

Patent prosecution before the USPTO is governed by numerous rules that limit an Applicant’s ability to take certain actions, such as amending the claims.  A Final Rejection severely limits an Applicant’s right to amend, and thus sometimes there are disputes as to whether a rejection is properly made final.  

Medieval scholars purportedly used to debate questions such as how many angels can dance on the head of pin. Patent attorneys are currently debating a similar question, which is whether an invention is an abstract idea.  The USPTO has just issued new guidelines to help answer the question.  

The National Inventor Hall of Fame inducts a class of inventors every year to honor their breakthrough inventions.  The inductees typically have far reaching inventions that have profound impacts on the world.  On one of my more recent visits to the museum, I was reading about one of the inventions honored at the museum and…

While many patent attorneys spend their career filing patent applications and office action responses with the USPTO, few take advantage of the fact that the USPTO is an administrative agency and thus bound by the Administrative Procedure Act and the Freedom of Information Act.  This post analyzes some of the FOIA denials I have received…