New Director May Scrap PTO Rules

"[T]he long-running litigation over U.S. Patent and Trademark Office patent rules took a new turn when the parties asked the Federal Circuit to stay en banc proceedings until 60 days after the Senate confirms John Kappos as Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and PTO Director.

Inventor Triantafyllos Tafas and GlaxoSmithKline filed separate lawsuits, later combined, seeking to block implementation of PTO rules, which would limit the number of continuation and continuation in-part applications and requests for continued examination that an inventor may file.

GSK's attorney F. Christopher Mizzo, of Kirkland & Ellis, said the government had requested the stay. 'It appears that [rescission of the rules] is an option that is on the table for the PTO,' he said."

This article appeared in its entirety in the August 3, 2009 edition of The Pink Sheet.