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ARTICLE · 10 DECEMBER 2024

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On December 3, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") formally withdrew its highly controversial proposal to add a new requirement for terminal disclaimers. Terminal disclaimers are often.

United StatesIntellectual Property

On December 3, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") formally withdrew its highly controversial proposal to add a new requirement for terminal disclaimers. Terminal disclaimers are often filed during prosecution of U.S. patents to overcome non-statutory double patenting rejections. The proposal, published in May of 2024, would have imposed a new practice under which a patent in which a disclaimer is filed would be enforceable only if no claim in a patent to which it is tied by the terminal disclaimer has been found invalid. The proposal was roundly criticized as onerous, unnecessary, and disruptive to well-established practice.

The USPTO published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("the Notice") on May 10, 2024. The summary of the Notice explained:

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