The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently ended its popular design patent program. Haynes Boone Partner Alan Herda spoke with Managing IP about what the alternative options are for getting faster patent examinations in the article excerpted below.
Alan Herda, partner at Haynes Boone in Dallas, notes that utility patent applicants can request prioritised examination. Applicants who are seeking both design and utility patents on a product could try to obtain prioritised examination to at least secure some kind of protection.
“I do have experience with prioritised examination for utility patents, so this might make us think about filing utility patents where maybe we wouldn’t have or maybe we would have relied on the slow track.” …
Herda says he will always still recommend filing for design patent protection if appropriate.
“We would just do it,” he says, adding: “I just hope that the pendency gets shorter. If a client wants a design patent quickly, the request for expedited examination was the right option. Some of my cases languish for two or three years before examination.”
Read the full article from Managing IP here.
