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A Welcome Change of Direction at the US Patent Office
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Posted by Horacio Gutierrez
Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
I would like to commend USPTO Director David Kappos for the decision to rescind the proposed rules on continuation applications and claims originally published in the Federal Register in August 2007. In particular, I welcome the motivation behind the decision to ensure that patent rules are in place “that are responsive to its applicants’ needs and help bring their products and services to market.” In that spirit we look forward to working with Director Kappos to effectively address the concerns that gave rise to the proposed rules – namely to improve examination efficiency, enhance the quality of examination, and manage the growing backlog of unexamined applications.
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Global Challenges Await New Patent Office Director
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Posted by Horacio Gutierrez
Corporate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel
Yesterday President Obama announced he intends to nominate David Kappos, vice president and assistant general counsel for intellectual property at IBM, to serve as Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This is a huge job, managing a workforce of 9,000 employees and directing a central part of an intellectual property system that drives American innovation, economic growth and job creation.
It would be difficult to envision a new USPTO director who understands the U.S. and global patent system better than Dave Kappos. Dave’s nomination marks a return to the kind of experienced industry leadership that had often been tapped to head the agency in years past. Dave’s extensive background in all aspects of patent law and policy, and his experience managing one of the world’s largest corporate patent departments, make him well suited to take on the parallel challenges of improving patent quality and agency efficiency. We applaud his selection, and offer him our full support and commitment to work with him upon his appointment and with others in industry to tackle the challenges ahead.
The challenges the new Director will face are daunting.
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