USPTO - PAIR Not Available 4:30 am - 5:30 am ET Daily

In August 2015, the USPTO notified PAIR unavailable 04:30 AM to 05:30 AM ET daily.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

USPTO - New Patents Petitions Timeline Now Available

On August 26, the USPTO notified:

"The Office of Petitions has launched a new USPTO Patents Petitions Timeline that provides information on petition types that can be filed throughout each stage of the patent prosecution process. For each petition type, users can easily access information on average pendency over the past 12 months of decided petitions, the deciding office, petition grant rates, and link to specific sections of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) or other parts of the USPTO website that relate to each petition type.

The Patents Petitions Timeline website was developed to help our customers access more detailed statistics, including grant and pendency rates, and useful information about each petition. This will help applicants make better quality decisions on when to file a particular petition type during prosecution or for the life of the issued patent.

Please visit the USPTO's USPTO Patents Petitions Timeline found on http://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/petitions/timeline/uspto-petitions-timeline."

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

USPTO - New Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront Now Available

On August 28, the USPTO notified:

"New information about the USPTO’s upcoming release of the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront is now available online. We’ve also published a list of Frequently Asked Questions that provides further details about this new online fee payment tool. It includes information about the USPTO’s new online shopping cart, which will be available in the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront.

If you haven’t done so already, check out the Fee Payment System Customer Survey Highlights to see how your input has helped us design our newest online fee payment tools.

If you have questions or feedback about the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront, send an email to fpng@uspto.gov. Your input continues to drive our plans for future systems and your question could appear on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Having trouble using the in-text hyperlinks? You can copy and paste these URLS to your web browser:

Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront - http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/patent-maintenance-fees-storefront

Frequently Asked Questions - http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/online-fee-payment-tools-faqs

Fee Payment System Customer Survey Highlights - http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/fees-and-payment/transition-resources"

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

PTAB - Amendments to the Rules of Practice for Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board

On August 20, 2015, the USPTO published Amendments to the Rules of Practice for Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

As stated in the Federal Register, this proposed rule would amend the existing consolidated set of rules relating to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) trial practice for inter partes (IPR), the transitional program for covered business method patents (CBM), and derivation proceedings that implemented provisions of the Leahy Smith America Invents Act (AIA) providing for trials before the Office.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

San Jose Mercury News - Apple v. Samsung: Court Rejects Latest Appeal

If you are interested on the latest on the Apple and Samsung patent infringement battle, the San Jose Mercury News reports Apple v. Samsung: Court Rejects Latest Appeal.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

Federal Circuit - Akamai v. Limelight - Joint Infringement of Method Claim

In US patent law the standard of joint infringement of method claims seems to be shifting in recent years. Although not a lengthy decision on August 13, 2015, in Akamai Technologies v. Limelight Network, the Federal Circuit made it easier to prove joint infringement.

The Federal Circuit began in safe territory by stating: "direct infringement under occurs where all steps of a claimed method are performed by or attributable to a single entity." The Federal Circuit stated if "more than one actor is involved in practicing the steps, a court must determine whether the acts of one are attributable to the other such that a single entity is responsible for the infringement. When should it be attributable? The Federal Circuit says we will hold an entity responsible for others’ performance of method steps in two sets of circumstances: (1) where that entity directs or controls others’ performance, and (2) where the actors form a joint enterprise, and not just when we have a principle-agency relationship or a contract between the actors.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

Professor Peter Mennel et al. - Patent Case Management Judical Guide - New Third Edition

Professor Peter Mennel of UC Berkeley Law School published a new third edition of the Patent Case Management Judical Guide. I am just starting to read it this week, but based on my experience with previous editions expect this 1321-page Guide is again a valuable detailed description of US patent litigation. Part of the strength is it is based on contributions from leading practitioners and patent academics. It's amazingly a free PDF download which should prove valuable to attorneys and judges in the patent litigation trenches.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.

USPTO - Windows 10/Microsoft Edge: Compatibility Issue for EFS-Web and Private PAIR Authentication

Today, the USPTO announced "For users who are updating their operating systems to Windows 10, please be aware that Windows 10 comes installed with a new web browser, Microsoft Edge, that does not support plug-ins and will not run Java. Because Java is required for authentication to EFS-Web and Private PAIR, this impacts your ability to access EFS-Web and Private PAIR via Microsoft Edge.

To access EFS-Web and Private PAIR using Windows 10, Oracle is recommending the use of alternative browsers such as Firefox and Internet Explorer. IE11 will also be available on Windows 10. For additional information regarding Java compatibility and instructions on how to access IE11 on Windows 10, please visit: http://www.java.com/en/download/faq/win10_faq.xml

The USPTO is working on a longer term plan to improve the overall authentication process. For USPTO updates regarding this issue please visit either of our Announcements pages:

• EFS – Web Announcements: http://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/applying-online/efs-web-announcements

• PAIR Announcements: http://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/checking-application-status/pair-announcements

If you need assistance with this matter, or have questions on any eFiling topic, please visit the Patent Electronic Business Center webpage: http://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/support-centers/patent-electronic-business-center for comprehensive contact information, FAQ’s, and other eFiling resources."

Copyright © 2015 Robert Moll. All rights reserved.