[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 224 (Monday, November 22, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 71072]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-29360]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No.: PTO-P-2010-0087]
Extension of the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus
Plan
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides
a basis (the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan) under
which an applicant may have an application accorded special status for
examination if the applicant expressly abandons another copending
unexamined application. The Patent Application Backlog Reduction
Stimulus Plan allows applicants having multiple applications currently
pending before the USPTO to have greater control over the priority with
which their applications are examined while also stimulating a
reduction of the backlog of unexamined patent applications pending
before the USPTO. The USPTO is extending the Patent Application Backlog
Reduction Stimulus Plan until December 31, 2011.
DATES: Effective Date: November 22, 2010. The Patent Application
Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan became effective on November 27, 2009,
and was modified on June 24, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pinchus M. Laufer, Office of Patent
Legal Administration, Office of the Associate Commissioner for Patent
Examination Policy, by telephone at 571-272-7726; or via e-mail
addressed to [email protected]; or by mail addressed to: Box
Comments Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria,
VA 22313-1450.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USPTO published a notice in the Federal
Register providing an additional temporary basis (the Patent
Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan) under which a small entity
applicant may have an application accorded special status for
examination if the applicant expressly abandons another copending
unexamined application. See Patent Application Backlog Reduction
Stimulus Plan, 74 FR 62285 (Nov. 27, 2009), 1349 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off.
304 (Dec. 22, 2009) (notice). The Patent Application Backlog Reduction
Stimulus Plan allowed small entity applicants having multiple
applications currently pending before the USPTO to have greater control
over the priority with which their applications are examined while also
stimulating a reduction of the backlog of unexamined patent
applications pending before the USPTO. The USPTO indicated that the
plan would last for a period ending on February 28, 2010, but may be
extended for an additional time period thereafter. See Patent
Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan, 74 FR at 62287, 1349 Off.
Gaz. Pat. Off. at 306. The USPTO extended the plan for an additional
four months to June 30, 2010. See Extension of the Patent Application
Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan, 75 FR 5041 (February 1, 2010), 1351
Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 202 (February 23, 2010). Subsequently, the USPTO
expanded the plan to eliminate the small entity requirement and further
extended its duration to expire at the earlier of the December 31, 2010
date, or the date that 10,000 applications have been accorded special
status under this plan. See Expansion and Extension of the Patent
Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan, 75 FR 36063 (June 24,
2010), 1356 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 173 (July 20, 2010).
The USPTO is extending the Patent Application Backlog Reduction
Stimulus Plan until December 31, 2011. Accordingly, the Patent
Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan will run until 10,000
petitions have been granted or until December 31, 2011, whichever
occurs earlier. The USPTO may further extend this plan (on either a
temporary or permanent basis), or may also discontinue the plan after
December 31, 2011, if 10,000 petitions have not been granted, depending
upon the results of the plan. Information concerning the number of
petitions that have been filed and granted under the Patent Application
Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan is available on the USPTO's Internet
Web site at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/PatentStimulusPlan.jsp. For a petition under 37 CFR 1.102 to be granted
under the procedure for the Patent Application Backlog Reduction
Stimulus Plan, the petition under 37 CFR 1.102 and the letter of
express abandonment and its accompanying statement must be filed on or
before December 31, 2011 (unless the Patent Application Backlog
Reduction Stimulus Plan is extended by a subsequent notice).
Dated: November 16, 2010.
David J. Kappos,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2010-29360 Filed 11-19-10; 8:45 am]
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