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ARTICLE · 21 NOVEMBER 2013

Significant Changes Under Patent Law Treaty Take Effect December 18, 2013

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As Congress continues to propose new legislation to "improve" the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), practitioners and stakeholders must not forget that significant law and rule changes implementing the Patent Law Treaty of 2000 (PLT) take effect December 18, 2013.

United StatesIntellectual Property
Courtenay Brinckerhoff
Courtenay Brinckerhoff
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As Congress continues to propose new legislation to "improve" the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), practitioners and stakeholders must not forget that significant law and rule changes implementing the Patent Law Treaty of 2000 (PLT) take effect December 18, 2013. The Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (PLTIA) was enacted on December 18, 2012, and the USPTO published its final rules on October 21, 2013. As I wrote previously, some of the most significant changes relax the requirements for securing an application filing date, provide for restoration of a priority claim if an application is unintentionally filed beyond the priority term, and eliminate the "unavoidable" standard for reviving abandoned applications and obtaining acceptance of delayed fee payments. The USPTO's final rules also make other changes to miscellaneous application filing and processing rules.

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