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The USPTO recently launched the Fast-Track Appeal Pilot Program on July 2, 2020. The Pilot Program is slated to last one year, with a cap of 125 granted petitions per quarter – 500 total for the year. According to a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) webinar hosted on Feb. 18, 2021, the PTAB may use discretion to grant additional petitions per quarter. The Pilot Program allows appellants, i.e., applicant of the patent application, to file a petition to request fast-track review of
ex parte appeals.
To qualify, the patent application must be an original utility, design, or plant non-provisional application. In addition, (i) a notice of appeal must have been filed in the application, and (ii) a PTAB docketing notice was issued. In other words, a deficiency of either (i) or (ii) would result in the petition being denied. Further, the appellant must file a petition under 37 CFR 41.3 seeking fast-track review accompanied
On January 13, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and
Information Technology (
MIIT ) issued
the
Circular on Launching the Pilot Program on Classified and
Graded Management of Cybersecurity of Industrial Internet
Enterprises (the
Circular ).
The Circular provides that, in light of the actual development
of the industrial Internet in various regions, and by taking into
full consideration the willingness of various regions to
participate in the program, 15 provinces (autonomous regions and
municipalities directly under the Central Government) including
Tianjin, Jilin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Fujian,
Shandong, Henan, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Chongqing, Sichuan,
Xinjiang are initially scheduled to launch the pilot
program.
The Circular requires that, through the pilot program: