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ARTICLE · 23 DECEMBER 2009

New Examiner Count System Will Change Processing Of RCEs Intellectual Property

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP
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Imagine a patent office reform that improves the quality of the examination process "and" shortens an application’s pendency period. The current reform efforts in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) promises just that.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP'S Intellectual Property Practice Group
Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP'S Intellectual Property Practice Group
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Imagine a patent office reform that improves the quality of the examination process and shortens an application's pendency period. The current reform efforts in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) promises just that. On October 19, 2009, USPTO Director David Kappos announced an overhaul of the USPTO's examiner performance metric system. The new count system gives examiners more time overall, including more time for initial examination and examiner-initiated interviews, while reducing the credits for requests for continued examinations (RCEs). In the long run, the new count system is intended to incentivize examiners to provide applicants with "compact prosecution" of their applications. For the near-term, however, applicants and their attorneys may need to be vigilant in monitoring the examination of their post-RCE applications.

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