This proposed rule would amend the existing consolidated set of rules relating to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) trial practice for inter partes review (“IPR”), post-grant review (“PGR”), the transitional program for covered business method patents (“CBM”), and derivation proceedings that implemented provisions of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (“AIA”) providing for trials before the Office.
Comments should be sent by electronic mail message over the Internet addressed to: trialrules2015@uspto.gov. Comments may also be submitted by postal mail addressed to: Mail Stop Patent Board, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, marked to the attention of “Lead Judge Susan Mitchell, Patent Trial Proposed Rules.”
Comments may also be sent by electronic mail message over the Internet via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. See the Federal eRulemaking Portal Web site (http://www.regulations.gov) for additional instructions on providing comments via the Federal e-Rulemaking Portal.
Although comments may be submitted by postal mail, the Office prefers to receive comments by electronic mail message to be able to more easily share all comments with the public. The Office prefers the comments to be submitted in plain text, but also accepts comments submitted in ADOBE® portable document format or MICROSOFT WORD® FORMAT. Comments not submitted electronically should be submitted on paper in a format that accommodates digital scanning into ADOBE® portable document format.
The comments will be available for public inspection at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, currently located in Madison East, Ninth Floor, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. Comments also will be available for viewing via the Office's Internet Web site http://www.uspto.gov/patent/laws-and-regulations/comments-public-response-specific-requests-uspto. Because comments will be made available for public inspection, information that the submitter does not desire to be made public, such as address or phone number, should not be included in the comments.
The Office solicits comments from the public on this proposed rulemaking. Written comments must be received on or before October 19, 2015 to ensure consideration.
A. Intellectual Property Organizations and Government Agencies
B. Corporations and Associations
- American Honda Motor Co., Inc., Ford Motor Company, and Toyota Motor Corporation
- Askeladden LLC
- Biotechnology Industry Organization
- Cisco et al
- Electronic Frontier Foundation
- EMC
- Think Computer Corporation
- Unified Patents Inc
C. Law Firm
D. Individuals