[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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