USPTO proposed rules march on; Comment on the unknown

Posted by J. Matthew Buchanan

April 30, 2007

Dennis Crouch and Hal Wegner have done some excellent work on tracking the status of the USPTO proposed rules, including the proposed rule that would place an arbitrary limit on the ability to file continuation applications. Since their initial publication, the rules have been the subject of a great deal of debate which, thanks to the Office’s secretive handling of the rules following the notice and comment process, has been reduced to rumor and gossip of late.

Now, Dennis and Hal have tracked the rules to the Office of Management and Budget. Following standard procedure, the Office has submitted the rules package to OMB for regulatory review before publication of the final rules.

Here’s the real gold star - Dennis even uncovered the details on the process for submitting comments to on the rules to the OMB, which apparently has a policy “to meet with any party interested in discussing issues, whether they are from State or local governments, small business or other business or industry interests, or from the environmental, health or safety communities.”

Yep..it’s not too late to voice your concerns over the proposed rules. Unfortunately, we have no clue as to the content of the rules package as submitted to OMB thanks, again, to the Office’s behavior (one report had a PTO official characterizing them as ‘privileged’). In this light, it seems appropriate to assume that the rules haven’t changed and that comments to the OMB should focus on the proposed version and the Office’s secretive practices following their publication.

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