Patent Quality Resources

An ongoing emphasis on patent quality ensures our continuous improvement. We are building more confidence in our patent system by encouraging discussions with our stakeholders, increasing transparency, making our patent system more understandable and usable by all inventors, and working internationally to assist global patent rights Below are some resources to aid these goals.

• Patent Quality Chats – a monthly webinar discussing various aspects of the patent quality
   
• Interview Practice – including information about free video conferencing with USPTO examiners, AIR a web-based tool for scheduling interviews, Interview Specialists contact information for each Technology Center, and policy and training information.
   
• Examination Guidance and Training Materials – on topics such as 35 U.S.C. 101, America Invents Act, claim interpretation, 35 U.S.C. 112, and 35 U.S.C. 10
  • Guidance on Subject Matter Eligibility, including 2014 Interim Guidance, July 2015 Update, and May 2016 Update
     
• First Inventor to File (FITF) Resource
• Patents Petitions Timeline - Provides applicants access to petitions that can be submitted during each stage of the patent prosecution process and information related to each specific petition and deciding office.
• Patents Ombudsman – Assisting in getting the application back on track.
• Office of Patents Stakeholder Experience (OPSE) - Resources for independent inventors and small businesses.
• International Patent Cooperation - Efforts to improve the quality, efficiency, and predictability of patent family prosecution therby increasing the certainty of global patent rights.  Efforts include Collaborative Search Pilot Programs (CSP), Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC), Global Dossier (GD), Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH), and International Patent Legal Administration.
• Open Data - Publicly available data from portals such as our assignment database, and our data visualization center.