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12th Annual Independent Inventors Conference Comes to Raleigh, NC (11Sep2007)

Posted by Kristen Cichocki at September 24, 2007 10:13 PM

12th Annual Independent Inventors Conference Comes to Raleigh, NC (11Sep2007)

MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact:
Jennifer Rankin Byrne or Ruth Nyblod
(571) 272-8400 or
Jennifer.Rankin_Byrne@uspto.gov; ruth.nyblod@uspto.gov

12th Annual Independent Inventors Conference Comes to Raleigh, NC
United States Patent and Trademark Office, the National Inventors Hall of Fame®
Foundation and the NC State College of Textiles

WHAT
12th Annual Independent Inventors Conference, presented by the USPTO and the
National Inventors Hall of FameÃ¢ Foundation (NIHFF) in conjunction with North Carolina State University.

WHO
Inventors from the Raleigh – Durham area as well as nationwide.

Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Margaret J.A. Peterlin, Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations Peggy Focarino and other top USPTO officials will share insights on the latest developments in the intellectual property system and how inventors are affected.

North Carolina's Secretary of State Elaine F. Marshall will discuss her role in the creation of new businesses and law enforcement leadership in the fight against counterfeit brand-name products and pirating of protected intellectual property.

Michael Sykes, a Wake Forest builder and winner of the 2007 Modern Marvels Invent Now® Challenge, will talk about his 25-year journey inventing a house that heats and cools itself without fuel or electricity.

Also presenting will be Louis Foreman, successful inventor and CEO of Enventys and Everyday Edisons Productions.

WHEN
Friday, September 14, 8:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m.
Saturday, September 15, 8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

WHERE
Centennial Campus - College of Textiles, North Carolina State University
Raleigh, North Carolina

WHY
This conference will offer novice and seasoned inventors alike the rare opportunity to hear from government and industry experts on an array of topics including the basics of protecting your invention, free resources available to inventors, and how to avoid common inventor pitfalls.

There will be ample time for attendees to network with experts and fellow inventors.

HOW
More information about the conference and online registration is available at
http://www.uspto.gov/main/homepagenews/bak2007aug03a.htm.

Media should contact Jennifer.Rankin_Byrne@uspto.gov or ruth.nyblod@uspto.gov for more information. There is no charge for media to attend the conference.

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USPTO, U.S. Chamber Team with U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer to Educate Oregon Businesses about the Risks of Counterfeiting and Piracy (11Sep2007)

USPTO, U.S. Chamber Team with U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer to Educate Oregon Businesses about the Risks of Counterfeiting and Piracy and the Importance of Intellectual Property Protection (11Sep2007)

MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact:
Jennifer Rankin Byrne or Ruth Nyblod
(571) 272-8400 or
Jennifer.Rankin_Byrne@uspto.gov; ruth.nyblod@uspto.gov

USPTO, U.S. Chamber Team with U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer
to Educate Oregon Businesses about the Risks of Counterfeiting and Piracy
and the Importance of Intellectual Property Protection

Washington, D.C. — The Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will team with U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer on Friday, September 14, to present a free educational forum that will highlight the growing threats of counterfeiting and piracy, while also providing information on how businesses can protect and enforce their own intellectual property rights in the U.S. and overseas.

Government and industry experts will discuss the risks and impacts of counterfeiting and piracy and how businesses can mitigate those risks by making intellectual property protection part of their business plan. They also will highlight U.S. government resources that are available to help businesses protect their intellectual property rights.

WHAT
Free educational forum to educate businesses about the threats of counterfeiting and
piracy and how to protect their intellectual property.

WHO
Featured speakers to include:

U.S. Representative Earl Blumenauer

Brad Huther, Senior Advisor of the U.S. Chamber’s Anti-Counterfeiting and Piracy Initiative

John Koeppen, Attorney-Advisor, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Vanessa Backman, Assistant General Counsel, Adidas International

Barbara T. Cason, Associate General Counsel and Director of Intellectual Property, Columbia Sportswear

Jennifer Yruegas, Trademark Attorney, Nike

Robin Taylor, Assistant U.S. Attorney and Computer Hacking Intellectual Property Coordinator, United States Department of Justice

WHEN
Friday, September 14, 2007
Seminar begins: 8:30 a.m.
Industry Panel: 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Congressman Blumenauer Remarks: 12:30 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

WHERE
Doubletree Hotel – Lloyd Center
1000 NE Multnomah Street
Portland, Oregon

There is no charge to attend this event. Lunch will be provided.

Media who would like more information or wish to RSVP for the event should email Jennifer.Rankin_Byrne@uspto.gov or call 571-272-8400. Information on the USPTO’s efforts to educate small businesses about intellectual property theft can be found at www.stopfakes.gov/smallbusiness

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April 2007 Revision of Patent Cooperation Treaty Procedures, Final rule [PDF] (10Sep2007)

View and/or download a PDF of this notice at the following url:

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/notices/72fr51559.pdf

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United States and Swedish Patent Offices to Cooperate on International Search and Examination Services (17Sep2007)

PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Brigid Quinn or Ruth Nyblod
(571) 272-8400 or
brigid.quinn@uspto.gov or ruth.nyblod@uspto.gov

United States and Swedish Patent Offices to Cooperate on International Search and Examination Services
Trial project part of USPTO efforts to reduce U.S. national patent application backlogs

The Commerce Department’s U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV) announced today that they have begun a pilot project to test the feasibility of the PRV performing search and examination services for the USPTO on international applications filed with the USPTO under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The pilot is part of ongoing USPTO efforts to bring down the growing backlog of U.S. national patent applications waiting to be examined.

Each year, the USPTO receives over 50,000 PCT international applications in addition to over 400,000 national applications. The USPTO is testing whether, by having international applications processed elsewhere, it can dedicate more resources to examining the approximately 750,000 national applications currently in the pipeline, with the goal of increasing productivity and enhancing quality.

Under the terms of the pilot project, the PRV will process 50 PCT Chapter I applications covering a range of technologies. The USPTO will review the PRV’s work to ensure that it meets USPTO standards for quality and accuracy.

“We look forward to working with our Swedish colleagues to achieve our mutual goals of expediting review of patent applications while maintaining high quality examination” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas. “Taking advantage of work completed by another office allows the USPTO to focus more of its resources on decreasing the time it now takes between the filing of an application and a final examiner decision.”

“The PRV is a competent PCT Authority since the start of the PCT system in 1978 and we have a long experience of patent search and examination” said Lars BjÃ¶rklund, acting Director General of the PRV. “We look forward to cooperating with the USPTO and thereby also taking responsibility to support and maintain the functionality of the PCT system.”

The PCT is an international agreement that simplifies the filing of patent applications in its 135 member states. A PCT application may be used as a national application for a patent in any of the designated PCT countries. International applicants request PCT search and examination reports to help them determine if an application meets basic patent criteria before committing to the high cost of translating and filing an application in one or more PCT countries. The USPTO and the PRV are among the national patent offices authorized to conduct PCT searches and examinations.

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Error in GPO August 28 Printed TM Official Gazette (19Sep2007)

Error in GPO's August 28 Printed TM Official Gazette (19Sep2007)

OMISSION OF MARKS IN AUGUST 28, 2007, GOVERNMENT PRINTING
OFFICE PRINTED EDITION OF THE TRADEMARK OFFICIAL GAZETTE

Due to an error by the Government Printing Office (GPO), GPO's August 28, 2007 printed version of the Trademark Official Gazette (TMOG) published incorrectly. In particular, Book 2 of GPO’s printed August 28, 2007 TMOG omitted the content intended for publication in that volume, and instead mistakenly contained the content designated to print in Book 2 of the following week’s edition.

All of the content mistakenly omitted from GPO’s printed TMOG was timely and properly included in the USPTO’s electronic TMOG dated August 28, 2007. While the USPTO regrets the inconvenience to GPO’s customers as a result of the GPO printing error, the USPTO’s electronic TMOG is the official version. See 68 FR 37803 (June 25, 2003). The five most recent electronic editions of the TMOG are always easily accessible on the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/trademarks/tmog/.

Because the marks in question correctly appeared in the official version of the August 28, 2007 TMOG, the opposition period for these marks remains unchanged, regardless of their omission from GPO’s printed TMOG.

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Lower-Cost Trademark Bulk Data from U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (18Sep2007)

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announces plans to provide Trademark bulk data at lower cost. Effective January 1, 2008, the USPTO will change its distribution model for Trademark bulk data by eliminating all charges for downloadable daily files and reducing the price of retrospective data distributed on optical disc.

The following Trademark data files, currently available only by purchased subscription, will be downloadable at no cost as of January 1, 2008:

Trademark Daily/XML files:

Trademark Daily Applications file
(containing text data of applications filed, published for opposition, registrations issued, registrations renewed, registrations cancelled, registrations amended or corrected, registrations issued new certificates)

Trademark Daily Assignments file
(containing text data of ownership transfers)

Trademark Daily TTAB file
(containing text data of Trademark Trial and Appeals Board adversary proceedings)

Trademark Daily Application Image 24 Hour Box
(containing images processed through the Trademark Image Capture and Retrieval System (TICRS) in a 24-hour Period, in JPEG (black and white, grey-scale, or color)) and TIFF (black and white) formats)

In order to improve access to these downloadable data files, USPTO will implement a new account management and file retrieval system. New customers will be able to establish their own accounts online beginning January 1; existing customers will be transitioned to the new system.

The USPTO also offers optical discs containing Trademark Retrospective/XML files (Applications, Assignments, and TTAB), which are updated annually. After January 1 these discs will be available at a substantially lower cost; the ordering process for all optical discs will remain as described in the products and services catalog at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/catalog/index.html.

Additional details will be provided later this fall - for the latest information, see “What's New at CIS” on the USPTO website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/cio/cis/prodsvc.htm. Please direct any questions or comments to Electronic Information Products Division, 571-272-5600 or ipd@uspto.gov.

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USPTO and United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (04Sep2007)

Posted by Kristen Cichocki at September 9, 2007 04:18 PM

USPTO and United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway (04Sep2007)

PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Brigid Quinn or Ruth Nyblod
(571) 272-8400 or
brigid.quinn@uspto.gov or ruth.nyblod@uspto.gov

September 4, 2007

USPTO and United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway
Fast-track examination trial program will enhance quality and efficiency

The Commerce Department's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office (UK IPO) today announced that they are now accepting applications for participation in a pilot Patent Prosecution Highway project established between the two offices. The Patent Prosecution Highway will leverage fast-track patent examination in both offices to allow applicants in both countries to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently. It also will permit each office to benefit from work previously done by the other office, in turn reducing examination workload and improving patent quality.

"Patent offices worldwide must increase the depth and effectiveness of their cooperation. Our collective goal is to reduce duplication of work, speed up processing, and improve quality," said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas. "This pilot project with the UK IPO builds on our work with the Japan Patent Office, and contributes to a more rational international patent system."

"The Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office builds on a similar pilot scheme with the Japan Patent Office which is already showing great promise," said Chief Executive of the UK Intellectual Property Office Ian Fletcher. "The UK Intellectual Property Office has high standards in efficiency and quality as reflected in our ISO 9001:2000 accreditation, and the PPH agreement with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will make a contribution to raising these standards further. I am especially pleased that the improved efficiency and quality expected to arise from this PPH agreement is a direct result of the strong relations that exist between the UK Intellectual Property Office and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The PPH helps both offices in their goal of stimulating and rewarding invention and innovation and is a further step towards a global patent prosecution highway network," Fletcher continued.

Under the Patent Prosecution Highway, an applicant receiving a ruling from either the UK IPO or the USPTO that at least one claim in an application is patentable may request that the other office fast track the examination of corresponding claims in corresponding applications. Full requirements for participation in the trial program at the USPTO can be found at www.uspto.gov/web/patents/pph/pph_ukipo.html.

The purpose of the trial program is to gauge the interest of applicants and determine if the program improves quality and efficiency and reduces the workload at the USPTO and the UK IPO. The trial period is set to expire September 4, 2008, but may be extended for up to one year or terminated earlier depending on volume of activity and other factors. Both offices will provide notice of any adjustment in the trial period.

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