Prosecution Pointer 300

The International Bureau has a summary of filing restrictions for reasons of national security in the following PCT Contracting States; a link can be found here.

Prosecution Pointer 301

The next quarterly meeting of the USPTO’s Patent Public Advisory Committee is November 18, 2021, directed to a review of policies, performance, budget, and user fees. A link to the agenda can be found here.

Prosecution Pointer 302

The USPTO posted a notice announcing the establishment of an email address (PCTHelp@uspto.gov) for submitting inquiries regarding the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the procedures applicable to international applications filed under the PCT and U.S. national stage applications submitted under 35 U.S.C. § 371. The email address will be effective January 1, 2022, for one year on a pilot basis.

Prosecution Pointer 303

The USPTO participates in the electronic priority document exchange (PDX) program. Use of PDX avoids the fee associated with ordering a certified priority document for each office of subsequent filing and the costs of transmitting those certified copies to foreign associates or foreign intellectual property (IP) offices. The USPTO transmits certain U.S. priority applications as-filed to any foreign IP office that participates in the priority document exchange program (participating office) and retrieves/accesses certain foreign priority applications as-filed from the participating offices. The priority document exchange program includes two modes of exchange: Direct Bilateral Exchange and World Intellectual Property Organization Digital Access Service (WIPO DAS) Exchange.

Prosecution Pointer 304

US patent maintenance fees are only required for maintaining an original or reissue patent, except for a design or plant patent.