The USPTO proposed attributable ownership rules would require
the public disclosure of the "attributable owner" of
patent applications and patents. In
this article, I outlined some of my concerns with the proposed
rules. Here, I provide a review of some of the written comments
submitted to the USPTO in response to the Federal Register
Notice.
Of the 67 public comments on the rules posted on the USPTO website, the
majority of voices are in loud opposition. Most opposing comments
touch on the same issues. Rather than repeating those detailed
analyses, the following vignettes give a flavor of the
opposition.
I. The proposed rules are not necessary
The Notice of Proposed Rule
Making justifies the rules as vital to the patent system, both
for the functioning of the USPTO and for the functioning of
business and the courts. The critics noted that not only has the
USPTO functioned for decades without these rules, but that there is
no evidence that the rules would
