[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 18 (Monday, January 28, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 411]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-00202]
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Notices
Federal Register
________________________________________________________________________
This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER contains documents other than rules
or proposed rules that are applicable to the public. Notices of hearings
and investigations, committee meetings, agency decisions and rulings,
delegations of authority, filing of petitions and applications and agency
statements of organization and functions are examples of documents
appearing in this section.
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Federal Register / Vol. 84, No. 18 / Monday, January 28, 2019 /
Notices
[[Page 411]]
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No.: PTO-P-2018-0066]
Extension of the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: On June 29, 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) implemented the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program,
which permits patent applications pertaining to cancer immunotherapy to
be advanced out of turn for examination and reviewed earlier (accorded
special status). To date, over 300 petitions requesting participation
in the pilot program have been filed, and over 100 patents have been
granted under the pilot program. In view of the continued interest in
the pilot program, the USPTO has extended the pilot program until June
30, 2020. All pilot parameters remain the same as the original pilot.
DATES: Duration: The Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program will continue
to run until June 30, 2020. Therefore, petitions to make special under
the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program must be filed on or before June
30, 2020. In addition, any petition to make special under the Cancer
Immunotherapy Pilot Program filed between December 31, 2018, and the
publication date of this notice will be considered timely. The USPTO
may further extend the pilot program (with or without modifications) or
terminate it depending on feedback received, continued interest and the
effectiveness of the pilot program.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pinchus M. Laufer, Patent Attorney
(telephone (571) 272-7726; electronic mail at [email protected])
or Susy Tsang-Foster, Senior Legal Advisor (telephone (571) 272-7711;
electronic mail at [email protected]), of the Office of
Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Deputy Commissioner for
Patent Examination Policy.
For questions relating to a specific petition, please contact Gary
B. Nickol, Supervisory Patent Examiner (telephone (571) 272-0835;
electronic mail at [email protected]) or Brandon J. Fetterolf,
Supervisory Patent Examiner (telephone (571) 272-2919; electronic mail
at [email protected]), of Technology Center 1600.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USPTO published a notice for the
implementation of the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program on June 29,
2016. See Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program, 81 FR 42328 (June 29,
2016), 1428 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 253 (July 26, 2016) (Cancer
Immunotherapy Notice). The pilot program was designed to support the
global fight against cancer. The Cancer Immunotherapy Notice indicated
that an applicant may have an application advanced out of turn
(accorded special status) for examination without meeting all of the
current requirements of the accelerated examination program set forth
in item VIII of MPEP section 708.02(a), if the application contained at
least one claim to a method of treating cancer using immunotherapy and
met other requirements specified in the Cancer Immunotherapy Notice.
The Cancer Immunotherapy Notice established that the pilot program
would run for twelve months from June 29, 2016. The USPTO extended the
pilot program to December 31, 2018, through a notice published in the
Federal Register. See Extension of the Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot
Program, 82 FR 28645 (June 23, 2017), 1440 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 256
(July 25, 2017). In view of the continued interest in the pilot
program, the USPTO has extended the pilot program through June 30,
2020. The extension also will allow the USPTO to continue its
evaluation of the pilot program. The requirements of the pilot program
have not been modified.
Various stakeholders from around the world have filed petitions to
participate in the pilot program--they are independent inventors,
universities, research institutions, hospitals, medical centers,
government agencies, and large and small companies. To date, over 300
petitions requesting participation in the pilot program have been
filed, and over 100 patents have been granted under the pilot program.
The USPTO may again extend the pilot program (with or without
modifications) depending on the feedback from the participants,
continued interest, and the effectiveness of the pilot program.
Dated: January 18, 2019.
Andrei Iancu,
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
[FR Doc. 2019-00202 Filed 1-25-19; 8:45 am]
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