Listen to the Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner John Doll discuss the Peer-to-Patent pilot, which is now live. He notes the particular difficulty that examiners have in finding prior art in the software field. Consequently the pilot is limited to technology center 2100, which handles computer hardware and software applications. The goal the pilot is allow public participation to improve the quality of issued patents.Also, Comissioner Doll predicted the PTO will have a backlog of 800,000 patent applications by the end of the year despite their effort to hire 1,200 examiners.
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linkedin.com/in/ewaltmire
twitter.com/waltmire
630.388.7053 (cell)
Eric Waltmire on Twitter
- One developer turned patent attorney's view on #Software #Patents http://t.co/h8Z6qTyt via @PatentAgentQcla 08:09:58 PM January 13, 2012 from TweetDeck
- IBM has most #patents again this year; Microsoft & IBM only US companies in top10 according to IFI Claims http://t.co/9d4c2dKC 04:40:42 PM January 12, 2012 from TweetDeck
- "Nobody has ever kept competitors out of any market with patents,"-Marshall Phelps; exceptions exist & design arounds http://t.co/w0CKer7Q 04:34:51 PM January 12, 2012 from TweetDeck
- Google acquires more IBM #patents, some directed to wireless phone tech. http://t.co/fHbTjg5D 04:23:07 PM January 12, 2012 from TweetDeck
- An article titled "Software Patents: Reform, Not Repeal" http://t.co/KmBbU9Ot 05:28:13 PM December 13, 2011 from TweetDeck
[...] Many, including the Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner, note the particular difficulty that examiners have in finding prior art in the software field. This difficulty is part of the motivation underlying the Peer-to-Patent Pilot, which allows the public to contribute prior art relevant to software patent applicants. If Takeda is extended to software patents, it might be difficult for challengers to identify particular pieces of prior art which evidence a suggestion to combine elements. Challengers would likely argue more flexibility is necessary in showing the prima facie case of obviousness given the nature of the software art. [...]
[...] Linux.com a has review of the Peer-to-Patent pilot, which I reported on earlier. Beth Noveck of the New York Law School, a leader in establishing the pilot, is noted in the article saying that the UK Patent office will launch a similar pilot for UK patents. She also expects that the European Patent Office will follow with a similar project. [...]