Imagine That IP Law Blog

What the change may mean for patent applicants

A pre-appeal brief conference can offer a relatively inexpensive opportunity to challenge a patent rejection before preparing a full appeal brief. In my practice, however, we rarely recommend one unless the record presents a particularly clear error. A focused five-page request may produce only a check-box decision indicating that the application should proceed to appeal, leaving the applicant with little insight into how the panel evaluated the arguments.

A recent USPTO change gives applicants a reason to take another look. In a ... Read More ›