Dina Blikshteyn, an associate in Haynes and Boone, LLP’s Intellectual Property group, recently talked with Law360 about the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s plans to simplify and speed up the patent examination process. The office will automatically import some information submitted by patent applicants into their related applications.
Here is an excerpt:
Dina Blikshteyn of Haynes and Boone LLP said Thursday that having the citations imported automatically will be helpful, but that as the program rolls out, attorneys should be vigilant to ensure the new system is working properly.
"Overall, it will make things easier for practitioners," she said, because it will keep them from having to keep filing the same information in multiple cases.
However, Blikshteyn said, because this is a new program, attorneys should be sure to double-check the USPTO's work and verify that it is importing the information correctly.
"If it is done correctly, this will be a great program," she said. "But I wouldn't trust the patent office explicitly, since I have the duty to disclose. You have to make sure that everything that should be cited was cited."
Blikshteyn said the initiative will become more useful in the future, as the office begins importing information cited in foreign patent offices.
While the initiative will only be used in a limited number of cases to begin with, "we'll have a subset of practitioners who get to know this program pretty well in the next year or two," she said.
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