USPTO's Acting Director Stewart Drives Changes in Patent Review Process
The implementation of proposals within the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is influenced by various factors, as highlighted by the Acting Director, Coke Morgan Stewart. The process involves political and administrative dynamics, stakeholder engagement, legal constraints, prioritization, and resource availability.
Stewart has made several changes to the patent review process. She has required a 'good reason' to disturb settled expectations and terminated the reliance on common knowledge to supply missing limitations. However, the use of supplemental preliminary briefing has been criticized for allowing sloppy petitions to be cured at the patent holder's expense and creating a 'mini trial-before-the-trial' situation.
The head of the agency has expressed that less than 40% of challenges are initially deemed worthy of review, while the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finds more than 90% to be so. Petitioners often fail to address secondary considerations in their petitions, waiting for the patent owner to raise the issue in a preliminary response. Stewart has taken steps to consider petitioners' reliance on experts but more action is needed to eliminate their use entirely.
The Acting Director, Coke Morgan Stewart, has implemented several changes to the patent review process within the USPTO. However, the implementation of proposals is influenced by various factors, including political and administrative dynamics, stakeholder engagement, legal constraints, prioritization, and resource availability. Further action is needed to address certain aspects of the process, such as the use of supplemental preliminary briefing and petitioners' reliance on experts.
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