Patent Office Unveils Streamlining Plan
Patent and Trademark Office Director David Kappos shared with employees on Wednesday a package of proposed initiatives that he hopes will move the agency down the path toward a more efficient examination environment. The pending plan would give examiners more time for a first action on the merits; time for examiner-initiated interviews with lessened credits for requests for continued examination; and providing consistent credits for transferred or inherited amendments.
Process changes would increase work credit certainty for examiners, increase fairness to applicants, and balance the load on IT systems, he said in a PTO newsletter. The proposal, drafted by PTO managers and union representatives, includes measures that will help examiners to do a high-quality first action, and shift resources from a focus on examiner recertification to front-end quality improvements, he wrote. Examiner briefings on the proposal will begin on Monday, Oct. 5.
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