Appeals Pilot Program News Today

October marks the start of a new fiscal year for the USPTO. Last week the agency announced the extension of several pilot programs that will continue on into 2023 and beyond.

The Caner Immunotherapy Pilot Program/Patents 4 Patients program has been extend through January 31, the Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program has been extended through July 2, 2024, and the After Final Consideration Pilot AFCP Program 2.0 has been extended to September 30, 2023

October marks the start of a new fiscal year for the USPTO.

The USPTO announced a new pilot program that will permit certain applicants to temporarily defer responding to subject matter eligibility rejections, called the Deferred Subject Matter Eligibility Response Pilot Program.

In a Federal Register Notice published January 6, 2022, the USPTO announced a new pilot program that will permit certain applicants to temporarily defer responding to subject matter...

Deadlines After May 31, relief will be available to large entities on a case by case basis.  Deadlines between  March 27 and July 30, 2020 for restoring priority of certain applications are extended. Misc. September 17, 2020. Initial examination of applications for trademarks related to COVID-19 products or services may be advanced in certain circumstances. Handwritten signatures no longer required; Patents 4 Partnership programs has been launched, with a focus on COVID-19 related technolog...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: As much of the United States is taking steps towards “getting back to normal,” the USPTO continues to implement programs to encourage investment and innovation in technologies addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the USPTO expanded the Patents for Humanity program to add a category for COVID-19 related inventions and separately rolled out a new pilot program offering fee-free expedited ex parte appeals for patent applicati...

New USPTO COVID-19 Initiatives Tuesday, May 11, 2021 As much of the United States is taking steps towards “getting back to normal,” the USPTO continues to implement programs to encourage investment and innovation in technologies addressing the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the USPTO expanded the Patents for Humanity program to add a category for COVID-19 related inventions and separately rolled out a new pilot program offering fee-free expedited  ex parte appeals for patent appli...

Thursday, April 15, 2021 As a companion to the COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program and patent-related relief provided by the 2020 CARES Act, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) recently announced a similar Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program for patent applications claiming a process or product requiring FDA approval for COVID–19 use. In general, under 35 U.S.C. § 134, once an Applicant’s claims have been twice rejected, the Applicant has a r...

To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently released statistics about its Fast-Track Appeals Pilot Program. The program went into effect on July 2, 2020 and is currently slated to run until the earlier of July 2, 2021 and 500 appeals being accepted into the program. Any ex parte appeal pending at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) is eligible for this program, so it is worthwhile for patent applicants to keep it in min...