USPTO Embarks on Listening Tour on Design Protection of Automotive Parts
Deputy Director of USPTO Met with Auto Industry Executives in Michigan May 6

On Tuesday, May 6, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Margaret J.A. Peterlin met with executives from the automotive industry to kick off a listening tour to seek the perspectives of parties concerned with issues related to protecting the designs of automobiles. 

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USPTO Seeks Members for Public Advisory Committees
Deadline for Nominations May 30

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is seeking nominations to the committees that review the agency’s policies, goals, performance, budget and user fees. Both the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) and the Trademark Advisory Committee (TPAC) have openings for three members. The members service three year terms. Persons wishing to submit nominations should send the nominee’s resume to Chief of Staff, Office of the Under Secretary and Director, USPTO, Post Office Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450 or by electronic mail to PPACnominations@uspto.gov for the patent committee or to TPACnominations@uspto.gov for the trademark committee. All nominations must be postmarked or electronically transmitted on or before May 30, 2008.

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USPTO and EPO to Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway

The USPTO and the European Patent Office (EPO) today announced that they intend to launch a new trial cooperation initiative called the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) in September. The Patent Prosecution Highway will leverage fast-track patent examination procedures already available in both offices to allow applicants to obtain corresponding patents faster and more efficiently. It also will permit each office to exploit the work previously done by the other office and reduce duplication. In turn, the initiative will reduce examination workload and improve patent quality.

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USPTO Introduces New Intellectual Property Curriculum
i-©®eaTM inspires creativity and teaches students about patents, trademarks, copyrights

The USPTO has announced the launch of a new, dynamic curriculum that inspires students to be creative and teaches them about the value of patents, trademarks, and copyrights, as well as the importance of respecting other’s intellectual property. The i-©®eaTM curriculum, developed by the USPTO in collaboration with i-SAFE—a leader in Internet safety education—is an interactive and age appropriate unit of instruction designed for upper-elementary, middle, and high school students.

“If you own something that is valuable, you want to protect it. Since U.S. intellectual property today is worth more than $5 trillion, it is important that future inventors understand the process of protecting intellectual property, and that we instill an innovative spirit among students to keep the flow of innovation alive,” said Jon Dudas, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO.

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Commerce Secretary Gutierrez Letter to Senate Calls for Patent Applicant Quality Submissions Provision in Patent Modernization Legislation

On April 3, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez sent a letter to members of the U.S. Senate to share the Administration’s thoughts on key aspects of the Patent Reform Act (S. 1145), including the Applicant Quality Submissions (AQS) provision, which he cites as “the strongest step toward improved patent quality.”

The Administration strongly supports the AQS provision in the bill in its current form, and believes enacting AQS will reduce the number of poor quality and imprecise applications, thus dramatically reducing patent pendency and backlog, as well as the likelihood of excessive litigation.

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