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(250) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[Docket No.: PTO-P-2010-0087]
Extension of the Patent Application
Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan
AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) provides
a basis (the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan) under
which an applicant may have an application accorded special status for
examination if the applicant expressly abandons another copending
unexamined application. The Patent Application Backlog Reduction
Stimulus Plan allows applicants having multiple applications currently
pending before the USPTO to have greater control over the priority with
which their applications are examined while also stimulating a
reduction of the backlog of unexamined patent applications pending
before the USPTO. The USPTO is extending the Patent Application Backlog
Reduction Stimulus Plan until December 31, 2011.
DATES: Effective Date: November 22, 2010. The Patent Application Backlog
Reduction Stimulus Plan became effective on November 27, 2009, and was
modified on June 24, 2010.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pinchus M. Laufer, Office of Patent Legal
Administration, Office of the Associate Commissioner for Patent Examination
Policy, by telephone at 571-272-7726; or via e-mail addressed to
Pinchus.Laufer@uspto.gov; or by mail addressed to: Box Comments Patents,
Commissioner for Patents, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The USPTO published a notice in the Federal
Register providing an additional temporary basis (the Patent Application
Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan) under which a small entity applicant may
have an application accorded special status for examination if the applicant
expressly abandons another copending unexamined application. See Patent
Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan, 74 FR 62285 (Nov. 27, 2009),
1349 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 304 (Dec. 22, 2009) (notice). The Patent Application
Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan allowed small entity applicants having
multiple applications currently pending before the USPTO to have greater
control over the priority with which their applications are examined while
also stimulating a reduction of the backlog of unexamined patent applications
pending before the USPTO. The USPTO indicated that the plan would last for a
period ending on February 28, 2010, but may be extended for an additional
time period thereafter. See Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus
Plan, 74 FR at 62287, 1349 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. at 306. The USPTO extended
the plan for an additional four months to June 30, 2010. See Extension of the
Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan, 75 FR 5041 (February 1,
2010), 1351 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 202 (February 23, 2010). Subsequently, the
USPTO expanded the plan to eliminate the small entity requirement and further
extended its duration to expire at the earlier of the December 31, 2010 date,
or the date that 10,000 applications have been accorded special status under
this plan. See Expansion and Extension of the Patent Application Backlog
Reduction Stimulus Plan, 75 FR 36063 (June 24, 2010), 1356 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off.
173 (July 20, 2010).
The USPTO is extending the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus
Plan until December 31, 2011. Accordingly, the Patent Application Backlog
Reduction Stimulus Plan will run until 10,000 petitions have been granted or
or until December 31, 2011, whichever occurs earlier. The USPTO may further
extend this plan (on either a temporary or permanent basis), or may also
discontinue the plan after December 31, 2011, if 10,000 petitions have not
been granted, depending upon the results of the plan. Information concerning
 Top of Notices (250) December 27, 2011 |
US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE |
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the number of petitions that have been filed and granted under the Patent
Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan is available on the USPTO's
Internet Web site at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=
leavingFR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/
PatentStimulusPlan.jsp. For a petition under 37 CFR 1.102 to be granted under
the procedure for the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan, the
petition under 37 CFR 1.102 and the letter of express abandonment and its
accompanying statement must be filed on or before December 31, 2011 (unless
the Patent Application Backlog Reduction Stimulus Plan is extended by a
subsequent notice).
November 16, 2010 DAVID J. KAPPOS
Under Secretary of Commerce for
Intellectual Property and Director of the
United States Patent and Trademark Office
[1361 OG 228]