All posts by: Silvia Salvadori

About Silvia Salvadori

{3 minutes to read}  The Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program is designed to positively impact the climate by accelerating the examination of patent applications for innovations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Under this program, qualifying applications involving greenhouse gas reduction technologies are advanced out of turn (granted special status) for examination until a first action […]

{1 minute to read}  In May 2020, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a Notice in which it facilitated the requirements to file plant applications. The Notice has not been modified and is still valid to this day, thus, it is still possible to file plant applications and follow-up […]

{4 minutes to read}  In a recent case, the Federal Circuit upheld the USPTO’s interpretation of the Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) statute that limits the availability of PTA for time spent appealing an Examiner’s rejections only.  The portion of the PTA statute at issue says: [I]  the issue of an original patent is delayed due […]

{3 minutes to read}  In a recent case, the Federal Circuit found that the claim language at issue was ambiguous, and relied on the prosecution history for claim construction without requiring the prosecution history to reveal a “clear and unmistakable disclaimer” of the plain meaning of the claims. Claim 1 is representative of the claims […]

{4 minutes to read}  To further support the acceleration of innovations in the fight against COVID-19, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is extending the modified COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program, which provides a prioritized examination of certain patent applications. Requests that comply with the pilot program’s requirements and are filed […]

{1 minute to read} Inventors and small businesses that meet certain financial thresholds and other criteria may be eligible for free legal assistance in preparing and filing a patent application. The Patent Pro Bono Program is a nationwide network of independently operated regional programs that match volunteer patent professionals with financially under-resourced inventors and small […]

{2 minutes to read}  In December of last year, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to seek public feedback on a proposal to revise the rules of practice for issuing patents electronically. Under the current rule (37 CFR 1.315), the USPTO is required to deliver or […]

Per guidance issued by the U.S. Department of State, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has terminated engagement with officials from Russia’s agency in charge of intellectual property, the Federal Service for Intellectual Property (commonly known as Rospatent), and with the Eurasian Patent Organization. The USPTO has also terminated engagement with officials from […]

On January 6, 2022, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new pilot program: The Deferred Subject Matter Eligibility Response (DSMER). This pilot program is designed to evaluate how deferred applicant responses to subject matter eligibility (SME) rejections affect examination efficiency and patent quality as compared to traditional compact prosecution practice.