The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced changes to patent fees, which will take effect on Jan 19, 2025. Most current fees are subject to a 7.5% across-the-board increase while other fees are...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a final rule setting out patent fee increases that will come into effect on January 19, 2025. The USPTO states that costs justify an increase of 10% for...more
The USPTO has announced a significant update to its fee schedule for the 2025 fiscal year, set to take effect January 19, 2025. Across the board, fees will rise by at least 10%, with some increasing as much as 100%. The last...more
Along with other new and increased fees, including the surcharge for late-stage continuation applications, the United States Patent & Trademark Office published a final rule on November 20, 2024, that establishes new fees for...more
In the November 20, 2024 Federal Register Notice, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or the “Office”) released its final rule on patent fee adjustments (“Final Rule”). These fee adjustments, set to take...more
The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office published a final rule on November 20, 2024, that establishes a new surcharge for continuation applications filed well after their earliest benefit dates (EBDs). Beginning January 19, 2025,...more
The After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 Program (AFCP) offered to patent applicants by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is ending on December 14, 2024. The program began in 2013 and was originally slated to last only 1...more
Effective January 19, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will increase patent fees and even create some new ones. A Final Rule, issued Nov. 20, instituted a 7.5% across-the-board increase with new utility...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has officially announced that the After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) will soon be laid to rest. In a notice dated October 1, 2024, the USPTO confirmed that the...more
The decision to end the program follows public resistance to a proposed fee structure aimed at offsetting its high administrative costs. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) extended the After Final Consideration...more
On September 30, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that the last day of the After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) is set for December 14, 2024.1 The program was set to run...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced that its “After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0” (“AFCP 2.0”) will come to an end on December 14, 2024. First rolled out in 2013, the program was part of USPTO...more
Based on feedback from the public on the use of After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) and hesitancy to accept the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposal for a new fee to participate in AFCP 2.0, the...more
On October 1, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced that it is terminating its After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0), which is set to expire on December 14, 2024. The...more
Since 2012, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has provided patent applicants and examiners an opportunity to continue collaborative prosecution after a final rejection has been received through the After...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is terminating the After Final Consideration Pilot Program 2.0 (AFCP 2.0), which provided examiners additional time to search and/or consider responses following final rejection of...more
On April 30, the USPTO announced a Request for Comments (RFC) seeking public feedback on how AI could affect USPTO evaluations on patentability, including what qualifies as prior art and the assessment of the level of...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has proposed significant changes to patent fee structures for the 2025 fiscal year. These proposed changes mark a pivotal shift in the Office’s financial approach toward...more
If the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is going to implement fee changes in January 2025, we should see a Federal Register Notice detailing the proposed fees soon. The USPTO started this round of fee-setting in April...more
On December 8, 2022, the US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) announced the launch of the Cancer Moonshot Expedited Examination Pilot Program (Cancer Moonshot Pilot). This program begins on February 1, 2023, and replaces the...more
The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) is seeking public input and guidance on proposed initiatives directed at bolstering the robustness and reliability of patents. The request for comments was spurred in part by US...more
The USPTO Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) rules include a “safe harbor” that avoids a PTA deduction for “Applicant delay” for Information Disclosure Statements that are accompanied by a certain statement averring that the items...more
Consider requesting examination of your Canadian patent applications now to avoid potential fees - Last summer, the Government of Canada issued draft regulations introducing claim fees and a continued examination scheme for...more
A patent gives the patent holder the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, or importing an invention covered by the patent. However, the right only lasts for a limited period of time and will...more
In Chudik V. Hirshfeld, the Federal Circuit upheld the USPTO’s determination that a Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) award for “C” delay is not available when an examiner reopens prosecution after an Appeal Brief is filed,...more