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 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print Table of Contents 1408 OG 216 

OFFICIAL GAZETTE of the UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

November 25, 2014 Volume 1408 Number 4

CONTENTS

 Patent and Trademark Office NoticesPage 
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Information1408 OG 217
Notice of Maintenance Fees Payable1408 OG 220
Notice of Expiration of Patents Due to Failure to Pay Maintenance Fee1408 OG 221
Patents Reinstated Due to the Acceptance of a Late Maintenance Fee from 10/27/20141408 OG 251
Reissue Applications Filed1408 OG 252
Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination Filed1408 OG 254
Notice of Expiration of Trademark Registrations Due to Failure to Renew1408 OG 255
37 CFR 1.47 Notice by Publication1408 OG 262
Registration to Practice1408 OG 263
Patent Public Advisory Committee Annual Report 20141408 OG 264
Trademark Public Advisory Committee Annual Report 20141408 OG 265
Errata1408 OG 266
Certificates of Correction1408 OG 271
Summary of Final Decisions Issued by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board1408 OG 273

Mailing and Hand Carry Addresses for Mail to the United States Patent and Trademark Office
Reference Collections of U.S. Patents Available for Public Use in Patent and Trademark Resource Centers
Patent Technology Centers



COPIES OF PATENTS are furnished by the Patent and Trademark Office at $3.00 each; PLANT PATENTS in color, $15.00 each; copies of TRADEMARKS at $3.00 each. Address orders to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA., 22313-1450, or click here for online ordering.


Printing by U.S.P.T.O. in electronic form is authorized by 35 U.S.C. § 10(a)3


Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 217 

Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Information
                  Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Information

   For information concerning PCT member countries, see the notice
appearing in the Official Gazette at 1393 O.G. 58, on August 13, 2013.

   For information on subject matter under Rule 39 that a particular
International Searching Authority will not search, see Annex D of the PCT
Applicants' Guide.

European Patent Office as Searching and Examining Authority

   The European Patent Office (EPO) may act as the International Searching
Authority (ISA) or the International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA)
for an international application filed with the United States Receiving
Office or the International Bureau (IB) as Receiving Office where at least
one of the applicants is either a national or resident of the United States
of America. However, the use of the EPO is restricted. The EPO will not act
as an ISA for applications with one or more claims directed to a business
method. For the definition of what the EPO considers to be precluded
subject matter in the field of business methods, see PCT Applicants's
Guide, Annexes D(EP), E(EP) and the Official Notices (PCT Gazette) dated
May 6, 2010, page 94
(http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/official_notices/index.html). The EPO will act
as an IPEA only if it also acted as the ISA.

   The search fee of the European Patent Office was decreased, effective
January 1, 2013, and was announced in the Official Gazette at 1385 O.G. 176,
on December 25, 2012.

Korean Intellectual Property Office as Searching and Examining Authority

The Korean Intellectual Property Office may act as the ISA or the IPEA for
an international application filed with the United States Receiving Office
or the International Bureau (IB) as Receiving Office where at least one of
the applicants is either a national or resident of the United States of
America. The announcement appears in the Official Gazette at 1302 O.G.
1261 on January 17, 2006.

   The search fee of the Korean Intellectual Property Office was increased,
effective January 1, 2013, and was announced in the Official Gazette at
1385 O.G. 176, on December 25, 2012.

Australian Patent Office as Searching and Examining Authority

   The Australian Patent Office (IP Australia) may act as the ISA or the
IPEA for an international application filed with the United States
Receiving Office or the International Bureau (IB) as Receiving Office where
at least one of the applicants is either a national or resident of the
United States of America. The announcement appears in the Offical Gazette
at 1337 O.G. 265, on December 23, 2008. However, the use of IP Australia is
restricted. IP Australia will not act as an ISA for applications with one
or more claims directed to the fields of business methods or mechanical
engineering or analogous fields of technology as defined by specified areas
of the International Patent Classification System, as indicated in the
Official Gazette at 1337 O.G. 261 on December 23, 2008, in Annex A to the
agreement between the USPTO and IP Australia. IP Australia will act as an
IPEA only if it also acted as the ISA.

   The search fee of IP Australia was decreased, effective September 1,
2013, and was announced in the Official Gazette at 1393 O.G. 170, on
August 27, 2013.

The Federal Service on Intellectual Property, Patents & Trademarks of
Russia as Searching and Examining Authority

 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 218 

   The Federal Service on Intellectual Property, Patents & Trademarks of
Russia (Rospatent) may act as the ISA or the IPEA for an international
application filed with the United States Receiving Office or the
International Bureau (IB) as Receiving Office where at least one of the
applicants is either a national or resident of the United States of
America. The announcement appears in the Official Gazette at 1378 O.G. 162,
on May 8, 2012.

   The search fee of Rospatent was increased, effective January 1, 2013,
and was announced in the Official Gazette at 1385 O.G. 176, on December 25,
2012.

Fees

   The fee for filing a request for the restoration of the right of
priority was changed, effective March 19, 2013, and was announced in the
Federal Register on January 18, 2013. The transmittal fee for the USPTO
was changed to include a basic portion and a non-electronic filing fee
portion, effective November 15, 2011, and was announced in the Federal
Register on November 15, 2011. Search fees for the USPTO were changed,
effective January 12, 2009, and were announced in the Federal Register on
November 12, 2008.

   International filing fees were increased, effective January 1, 2013,
and were announced in the Official Gazette at 1385 O.G. 176, on December 25,
2012.

   The schedule of PCT fees (in U.S. dollars), as of September 1, 2013, is
as follows:

International Application (PCT Chapter I) fees:

   Transmittal fee

     Basic Portion                                                  $240.00
      Non-electronic filing fee portion for international
       applications (other than plant applications) filed
       on or after 15 November 2011 other than by the
       Office electronic filing system
         - Other than a small or micro entity                       $400.00
         - Small Entity                                             $200.00
         - Micro Entity                                             $200.00

   Search fee

      U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) as
      International Searching Authority (ISA)
         - Search fee                                             $2,080.00
         - Supplemental search fee, per additional
            invention (payable only upon invitation)              $2,080.00
      European Patent Office as ISA                               $2,419.00
      Korean Intellectual Property Office as ISA                  $1,167.00
      IP Australia as ISA                                         $2,084.00
      Federal Service on Intellectual Property, Patents &
         Trademarks of Russia (Rospatent) as ISA                    $217.00

   International fees

      International filing fee                                    $1,419.00
      International filing fee-filed in paper
         with PCT EASY zip file or
         electronically without PCT EASY zip file                 $1,312.00
      International filing fee-filed
         electronically with PCT EASY zip files                   $1,206.00
      Supplemental fee for each page over 30                         $16.00

 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 219 

   Restoration of Priority

      Filing a request for the restoration of the
      right of priority under § 1.452
         - Other than a small or micro entity                      $1420.00
         - Small Entity                                             $710.00
         - Micro Entity                                             $355.00

   International Application (PCT Chapter II) fees associated
   with filing a Demand for Preliminary Examination:

      Handling fee                                                  $213.00
      Handling fee-90% reduction, if applicants meet criteria
      specified at:
        http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/fees/fee_reduction.pdf            $21.30
      Preliminary examination fee
         USPTO as International Preliminary
         Examining Authority (IPEA)
            - USPTO was ISA in PCT Chapter I                        $600.00
            - USPTO was not ISA in PCT Chapter I                    $750.00
            - Additional preliminary examination fee,
              per additional invention
              (payable only upon invitation)                        $600.00

   U.S. National Stage fees (for international applications entering
the U.S. national phase under 35 U.S.C. 371) can be found on the USPTO's
Web site (www.uspto.gov).

October 1, 2013                                         ANDREW H. HIRSHFELD
                                                    Deputy Commissioner for
                                                  Patent Examination Policy
                                  United States Patent and Trademark Office
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 220 

Notice of Maintenance Fees Payable
                  Notice of Maintenance Fees Payable

   Title 37 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Section 1.362(d) provides
that maintenance fees may be paid without surcharge for the six-month
period beginning 3, 7, and 11 years after the date of issue of patents
based on applications filed on or after Dec. 12, 1980. An additional
six-month grace period is provided by 35 U.S.C. 41(b) and 37 CFR 1.362(e)
for payment of the maintenance fee with the surcharge set forth in 37 CFR
1.20(h), as amended effective Dec. 16, 1991. If the maintenance fee is
not paid in the patent requiring such payment the patent will expire on
the 4th, 8th, or 12th anniversary of the grant.

   Attention is drawn to the patents that were issued on November 15, 2011
for which maintenance fees due at 3 years and six months may now be paid
The patents have patent numbers within the following ranges:

        Utility Patents 8,056,144 through 8,060,943
        Reissue Patents based on the above identified patents.

   Attention is drawn to the patents that were issued on November 13, 2007
for which maintenance fees due at 7 years and six months may now be paid
The patents have patent numbers within the following ranges:

        Utility Patents 7,293,295 through 7,296,299
        Reissue Patents based on the above identified patents.

   Attention is drawn to the patents that were issued on November 11, 2003
for which maintenance fees due at 11 years and six months may now be paid.
The patents have patent numbers within the following ranges:

        Utility Patents 6,643,844 through 6,647,548
        Reissue Patents based on the above identified patents.

   No maintenance fees are required for design or plant patents.

   Payments of maintenance fees in patents may be submitted electronically
over the Internet at www.uspto.gov. Click on the "Site Index" link at the
top of the homepage (www.uspto.gov), and then scroll down and click on the
"Maintenance Fees" link for more information.

   Payments of maintenance fees in patents not submitted electronically
over the Internet should be mailed to "United States Patent and Trademark
Office, P.O. Box 979070, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000".

   Correspondence related to maintenance fees other than payments of
maintenance fees in patents is not to be mailed to P.O. Box 979070,
St. Louis, MO 63197-9000, but must be mailed to "Mail Stop M
Correspondence, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O.
Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450".

   Patent owners must establish small entity status according to 37 CFR
1.27 if they have not done so and if they wish to pay the small entity
amount.

   The current amounts of the maintenance fees due at 3 years and six
months, 7 years and six months, and 11 years and six months are set forth
in the most recently amended provisions in 37 CFR 1.20(e)-(g). To obtain
the current maintenance fee amounts, please call the USPTO Contact Center
at (800)-786-9199 or see the current USPTO fee schedule posted on the USPTO
Internet web site. At the top of the USPTO homepage at www.uspto.gov, click
on the "Site Index" link and then scroll down and click on the "Fees,
USPTO" link to find the current USPTO fee schedule.
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 221 

Notice of Expiration of Patents Due to Failure to Pay Maintenance Fee
                        Notice of Expiration of Patents
                     Due to Failure to Pay Maintenance Fee

   35 U.S.C. 41 and 37 CFR 1.362(g) provide that if the required
maintenance fee and any applicable surcharge are not paid in a patent
requiring such payment, the patent will expire at the end of the 4th, 8th
or 12th anniversary of the grant of the patent depending on the first
maintenance fee which was not paid.
   According to the records of the Office, the patents listed below have
expired due to failure to pay the required maintenance fee and any
applicable surcharge.

                   PATENTS WHICH EXPIRED ON October 8, 2014
                    DUE TO FAILURE TO PAY MAINTENANCE FEES

Patent                          Application                           Issue
Number                             Number                              Date

6,460,190                       09/871,798                         10/08/02
6,460,199                       09/962,077                         10/08/02
6,460,202                       09/707,869                         10/08/02
6,460,212                       10/005,395                         10/08/02
6,460,213                       09/633,563                         10/08/02
6,460,215                       09/822,400                         10/08/02
6,460,218                       09/734,131                         10/08/02
6,460,221                       09/718,202                         10/08/02
6,460,222                       09/881,307                         10/08/02
6,460,237                       09/782,429                         10/08/02
6,460,242                       09/647,611                         10/08/02
6,460,253                       09/622,729                         10/08/02
6,460,254                       09/691,111                         10/08/02
6,460,266                       09/428,610                         10/08/02
6,460,269                       09/800,144                         10/08/02
6,460,270                       09/780,394                         10/08/02
6,460,276                       09/147,876                         10/08/02
6,460,282                       09/042,863                         10/08/02
6,460,285                       09/767,984                         10/08/02
6,460,286                       09/860,076                         10/08/02
6,460,294                       09/579,601                         10/08/02
6,460,300                       09/727,850                         10/08/02
6,460,302                       09/490,505                         10/08/02
6,460,304                       09/287,257                         10/08/02
6,460,306                       09/436,317                         10/08/02
6,460,310                       09/670,088                         10/08/02
6,460,313                       09/565,161                         10/08/02
6,460,315                       09/907,780                         10/08/02
6,460,319                       09/797,063                         10/08/02
6,460,322                       09/639,659                         10/08/02
6,460,324                       09/632,564                         10/08/02
6,460,330                       09/762,206                         10/08/02
6,460,331                       09/729,688                         10/08/02
6,460,336                       09/557,887                         10/08/02
6,460,337                       09/806,623                         10/08/02
6,460,338                       09/994,093                         10/08/02
6,460,343                       09/161,104                         10/08/02
6,460,345                       09/712,318                         10/08/02
6,460,350                       09/774,461                         10/08/02
6,460,365                       09/924,273                         10/08/02
6,460,366                       09/924,311                         10/08/02
6,460,367                       09/839,087                         10/08/02
6,460,369                       09/753,424                         10/08/02
6,460,374                       09/451,516                         10/08/02
6,460,375                       09/499,998                         10/08/02
6,460,380                       09/787,336                         10/08/02
6,460,384                       09/829,955                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 222 

6,460,385                       10/007,090                         10/08/02
6,460,389                       09/625,715                         10/08/02
6,460,399                       09/712,034                         10/08/02
6,460,413                       09/808,833                         10/08/02
6,460,418                       09/838,120                         10/08/02
6,460,422                       09/699,480                         10/08/02
6,460,433                       09/529,437                         10/08/02
6,460,437                       09/878,809                         10/08/02
6,460,439                       09/185,544                         10/08/02
6,460,445                       10/038,424                         10/08/02
6,460,447                       09/499,931                         10/08/02
6,460,453                       09/989,639                         10/08/02
6,460,467                       09/858,222                         10/08/02
6,460,473                       09/701,555                         10/08/02
6,460,477                       09/676,191                         10/08/02
6,460,484                       09/848,075                         10/08/02
6,460,489                       09/836,945                         10/08/02
6,460,499                       09/761,353                         10/08/02
6,460,509                       09/495,118                         10/08/02
6,460,522                       09/738,091                         10/08/02
6,460,529                       09/776,919                         10/08/02
6,460,531                       09/706,626                         10/08/02
6,460,533                       09/934,509                         10/08/02
6,460,537                       09/437,047                         10/08/02
6,460,539                       09/667,406                         10/08/02
6,460,541                       09/707,531                         10/08/02
6,460,542                       09/753,511                         10/08/02
6,460,545                       09/797,148                         10/08/02
6,460,550                       09/734,152                         10/08/02
6,460,551                       09/430,345                         10/08/02
6,460,552                       09/166,819                         10/08/02
6,460,553                       09/646,494                         10/08/02
6,460,554                       09/942,138                         10/08/02
6,460,557                       09/697,868                         10/08/02
6,460,559                       09/775,080                         10/08/02
6,460,563                       08/705,321                         10/08/02
6,460,565                       09/351,798                         10/08/02
6,460,569                       09/430,951                         10/08/02
6,460,578                       09/731,807                         10/08/02
6,460,583                       09/660,229                         10/08/02
6,460,588                       09/463,883                         10/08/02
6,460,590                       09/704,777                         10/08/02
6,460,595                       09/511,529                         10/08/02
6,460,596                       09/693,957                         10/08/02
6,460,607                       09/467,804                         10/08/02
6,460,611                       09/728,273                         10/08/02
6,460,626                       09/911,985                         10/08/02
6,460,629                       09/987,481                         10/08/02
6,460,633                       09/559,612                         10/08/02
6,460,638                       09/968,159                         10/08/02
6,460,639                       09/592,946                         10/08/02
6,460,643                       09/595,011                         10/08/02
6,460,646                       10/098,858                         10/08/02
6,460,649                       09/784,957                         10/08/02
6,460,652                       09/701,198                         10/08/02
6,460,654                       10/029,882                         10/08/02
6,460,659                       09/732,466                         10/08/02
6,460,662                       09/946,985                         10/08/02
6,460,663                       09/762,862                         10/08/02
6,460,665                       09/831,716                         10/08/02
6,460,679                       09/678,995                         10/08/02
6,460,681                       09/585,011                         10/08/02
6,460,682                       09/869,037                         10/08/02
6,460,702                       09/962,511                         10/08/02
6,460,705                       09/635,181                         10/08/02
6,460,710                       09/591,914                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 223 

6,460,715                       09/554,856                         10/08/02
6,460,721                       09/495,831                         10/08/02
6,460,729                       09/798,991                         10/08/02
6,460,741                       09/429,103                         10/08/02
6,460,744                       09/799,255                         10/08/02
6,460,745                       09/832,279                         10/08/02
6,460,753                       09/703,292                         10/08/02
6,460,764                       09/852,278                         10/08/02
6,460,766                       09/527,995                         10/08/02
6,460,775                       09/824,113                         10/08/02
6,460,778                       09/505,004                         10/08/02
6,460,783                       09/920,119                         10/08/02
6,460,788                       09/600,532                         10/08/02
6,460,792                       09/657,525                         10/08/02
6,460,797                       09/212,540                         10/08/02
6,460,805                       09/645,919                         10/08/02
6,460,817                       09/541,528                         10/08/02
6,460,820                       10/012,648                         10/08/02
6,460,830                       09/704,737                         10/08/02
6,460,842                       09/674,615                         10/08/02
6,460,845                       09/630,616                         10/08/02
6,460,847                       09/884,610                         10/08/02
6,460,850                       09/861,146                         10/08/02
6,460,866                       09/693,521                         10/08/02
6,460,868                       09/420,601                         10/08/02
6,460,873                       09/655,068                         10/08/02
6,460,875                       09/665,754                         10/08/02
6,460,887                       09/730,565                         10/08/02
6,460,889                       09/200,475                         10/08/02
6,460,890                       09/803,362                         10/08/02
6,460,896                       09/714,276                         10/08/02
6,460,897                       09/930,282                         10/08/02
6,460,902                       09/697,051                         10/08/02
6,460,904                       09/510,297                         10/08/02
6,460,905                       09/564,570                         10/08/02
6,460,918                       09/688,930                         10/08/02
6,460,921                       09/794,241                         10/08/02
6,460,938                       09/542,268                         10/08/02
6,460,939                       09/101,380                         10/08/02
6,460,940                       08/336,173                         10/08/02
6,460,942                       09/171,582                         10/08/02
6,460,943                       08/313,983                         10/08/02
6,460,947                       09/538,824                         10/08/02
6,460,949                       09/725,953                         10/08/02
6,460,953                       09/793,776                         10/08/02
6,460,955                       09/508,130                         10/08/02
6,460,956                       09/096,586                         10/08/02
6,460,961                       09/842,184                         10/08/02
6,460,963                       09/708,467                         10/08/02
6,460,964                       09/726,963                         10/08/02
6,460,965                       09/858,497                         10/08/02
6,460,966                       09/938,710                         10/08/02
6,460,969                       09/819,594                         10/08/02
6,460,971                       09/798,757                         10/08/02
6,460,973                       09/550,803                         10/08/02
6,460,985                       09/430,400                         10/08/02
6,460,990                       09/728,049                         10/08/02
6,460,992                       08/637,569                         10/08/02
6,460,993                       09/862,582                         10/08/02
6,461,001                       09/839,129                         10/08/02
6,461,009                       09/797,450                         10/08/02
6,461,013                       09/586,029                         10/08/02
6,461,017                       09/444,222                         10/08/02
6,461,020                       09/934,592                         10/08/02
6,461,021                       09/670,749                         10/08/02
6,461,027                       09/609,244                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 224 

6,461,032                       09/758,697                         10/08/02
6,461,035                       09/834,789                         10/08/02
6,461,036                       09/413,131                         10/08/02
6,461,037                       09/261,611                         10/08/02
6,461,040                       09/378,448                         10/08/02
6,461,055                       09/833,100                         10/08/02
6,461,059                       09/800,502                         10/08/02
6,461,062                       09/902,039                         10/08/02
6,461,065                       09/757,566                         10/08/02
6,461,066                       09/726,947                         10/08/02
6,461,074                       09/852,096                         10/08/02
6,461,077                       09/505,701                         10/08/02
6,461,079                       09/763,197                         10/08/02
6,461,088                       09/853,523                         10/08/02
6,461,090                       09/404,217                         10/08/02
6,461,096                       08/647,879                         10/08/02
6,461,097                       09/675,318                         10/08/02
6,461,099                       09/688,565                         10/08/02
6,461,107                       09/818,312                         10/08/02
6,461,119                       09/786,658                         10/08/02
6,461,132                       10/095,334                         10/08/02
6,461,137                       09/303,207                         10/08/02
6,461,138                       09/767,725                         10/08/02
6,461,140                       09/355,721                         10/08/02
6,461,142                       09/180,488                         10/08/02
6,461,146                       09/714,562                         10/08/02
6,461,152                       09/682,818                         10/08/02
6,461,155                       09/919,399                         10/08/02
6,461,162                       09/585,784                         10/08/02
6,461,168                       09/742,266                         10/08/02
6,461,169                       09/849,506                         10/08/02
6,461,170                       09/859,903                         10/08/02
6,461,171                       09/820,685                         10/08/02
6,461,183                       10/035,576                         10/08/02
6,461,184                       09/742,442                         10/08/02
6,461,194                       09/418,975                         10/08/02
6,461,195                       09/803,559                         10/08/02
6,461,196                       09/804,538                         10/08/02
6,461,217                       09/633,047                         10/08/02
6,461,218                       09/780,250                         10/08/02
6,461,221                       09/724,763                         10/08/02
6,461,224                       09/540,974                         10/08/02
6,461,240                       09/480,667                         10/08/02
6,461,249                       09/801,168                         10/08/02
6,461,252                       09/124,362                         10/08/02
6,461,256                       09/897,662                         10/08/02
6,461,257                       09/877,949                         10/08/02
6,461,258                       09/888,318                         10/08/02
6,461,262                       09/778,796                         10/08/02
6,461,265                       09/497,023                         10/08/02
6,461,271                       09/814,101                         10/08/02
6,461,282                       09/501,392                         10/08/02
6,461,292                       09/502,092                         10/08/02
6,461,296                       09/510,537                         10/08/02
6,461,297                       09/785,612                         10/08/02
6,461,300                       09/928,179                         10/08/02
6,461,304                       09/667,176                         10/08/02
6,461,312                       09/668,224                         10/08/02
6,461,319                       09/774,979                         10/08/02
6,461,321                       09/853,511                         10/08/02
6,461,322                       09/651,700                         10/08/02
6,461,326                       09/696,852                         10/08/02
6,461,333                       09/530,380                         10/08/02
6,461,339                       09/643,338                         10/08/02
6,461,342                       09/727,041                         10/08/02
6,461,343                       09/367,904                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 225 

6,461,348                       09/384,122                         10/08/02
6,461,360                       09/560,716                         10/08/02
6,461,361                       09/302,726                         10/08/02
6,461,375                       09/445,646                         10/08/02
6,461,378                       08/825,445                         10/08/02
6,461,386                       09/572,816                         10/08/02
6,461,387                       09/507,483                         10/08/02
6,461,389                       09/646,454                         10/08/02
6,461,394                       09/719,543                         10/08/02
6,461,407                       09/725,566                         10/08/02
6,461,415                       09/644,495                         10/08/02
6,461,417                       09/645,712                         10/08/02
6,461,427                       09/859,826                         10/08/02
6,461,429                       09/565,798                         10/08/02
6,461,432                       09/415,850                         10/08/02
6,461,436                       09/977,612                         10/08/02
6,461,446                       09/381,289                         10/08/02
6,461,448                       09/570,671                         10/08/02
6,461,451                       09/736,594                         10/08/02
6,461,453                       09/589,646                         10/08/02
6,461,472                       09/962,775                         10/08/02
6,461,479                       09/202,765                         10/08/02
6,461,480                       09/622,040                         10/08/02
6,461,487                       09/431,424                         10/08/02
6,461,490                       09/626,775                         10/08/02
6,461,491                       09/589,329                         10/08/02
6,461,497                       09/145,189                         10/08/02
6,461,501                       09/854,089                         10/08/02
6,461,506                       09/538,682                         10/08/02
6,461,513                       09/574,509                         10/08/02
6,461,522                       09/518,162                         10/08/02
6,461,528                       09/699,114                         10/08/02
6,461,535                       09/452,722                         10/08/02
6,461,538                       09/736,327                         10/08/02
6,461,546                       09/559,714                         10/08/02
6,461,548                       09/488,238                         10/08/02
6,461,551                       09/346,386                         10/08/02
6,461,552                       09/485,735                         10/08/02
6,461,554                       09/440,283                         10/08/02
6,461,556                       09/741,468                         10/08/02
6,461,559                       09/536,285                         10/08/02
6,461,574                       09/756,829                         10/08/02
6,461,575                       09/309,921                         10/08/02
6,461,576                       09/657,003                         10/08/02
6,461,579                       09/555,384                         10/08/02
6,461,592                       09/612,955                         10/08/02
6,461,609                       08/790,491                         10/08/02
6,461,616                       09/659,026                         10/08/02
6,461,618                       09/355,398                         10/08/02
6,461,636                       09/673,069                         10/08/02
6,461,639                       09/783,810                         10/08/02
6,461,640                       08/967,619                         10/08/02
6,461,642                       09/486,689                         10/08/02
6,461,643                       09/862,063                         10/08/02
6,461,648                       09/929,269                         10/08/02
6,461,651                       09/669,708                         10/08/02
6,461,654                       09/653,001                         10/08/02
6,461,656                       09/771,417                         10/08/02
6,461,659                       09/439,208                         10/08/02
6,461,662                       09/733,080                         10/08/02
6,461,667                       09/542,720                         10/08/02
6,461,671                       09/808,598                         10/08/02
6,461,681                       09/757,056                         10/08/02
6,461,684                       09/965,923                         10/08/02
6,461,685                       09/790,466                         10/08/02
6,461,687                       09/804,315                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 226 

6,461,690                       09/825,262                         10/08/02
6,461,696                       09/498,674                         10/08/02
6,461,697                       08/701,068                         10/08/02
6,461,699                       09/680,688                         10/08/02
6,461,701                       09/464,034                         10/08/02
6,461,702                       09/268,763                         10/08/02
6,461,708                       09/372,736                         10/08/02
6,461,711                       09/614,456                         10/08/02
6,461,716                       09/344,161                         10/08/02
6,461,728                       09/751,143                         10/08/02
6,461,731                       09/698,129                         10/08/02
6,461,732                       09/529,707                         10/08/02
6,461,733                       09/550,879                         10/08/02
6,461,734                       09/245,142                         10/08/02
6,461,735                       09/757,474                         10/08/02
6,461,737                       09/734,554                         10/08/02
6,461,744                       09/736,142                         10/08/02
6,461,745                       09/829,045                         10/08/02
6,461,749                       09/818,661                         10/08/02
6,461,750                       09/406,816                         10/08/02
6,461,770                       09/630,675                         10/08/02
6,461,786                       09/589,293                         10/08/02
6,461,788                       09/638,065                         10/08/02
6,461,792                       09/637,885                         10/08/02
6,461,794                       09/371,977                         10/08/02
6,461,800                       09/537,311                         10/08/02
6,461,804                       09/688,368                         10/08/02
6,461,815                       09/315,674                         10/08/02
6,461,816                       09/350,969                         10/08/02
6,461,820                       09/753,362                         10/08/02
6,461,827                       09/423,104                         10/08/02
6,461,834                       09/212,663                         10/08/02
6,461,839                       09/749,035                         10/08/02
6,461,841                       09/986,536                         10/08/02
6,461,845                       09/597,877                         10/08/02
6,461,851                       09/479,275                         10/08/02
6,461,854                       08/411,560                         10/08/02
6,461,860                       09/769,609                         10/08/02
6,461,861                       09/444,403                         10/08/02
6,461,865                       09/065,894                         10/08/02
6,461,866                       09/711,891                         10/08/02
6,461,870                       09/910,701                         10/08/02
6,461,882                       09/880,976                         10/08/02
6,461,883                       09/676,946                         10/08/02
6,461,884                       09/755,764                         10/08/02
6,461,892                       09/757,968                         10/08/02
6,461,900                       09/981,438                         10/08/02
6,461,903                       09/874,293                         10/08/02
6,461,910                       09/708,063                         10/08/02
6,461,911                       09/808,983                         10/08/02
6,461,914                       09/942,208                         10/08/02
6,461,917                       09/888,862                         10/08/02
6,461,923                       09/639,816                         10/08/02
6,461,924                       09/847,639                         10/08/02
6,461,926                       09/934,461                         10/08/02
6,461,937                       09/479,442                         10/08/02
6,461,943                       09/707,348                         10/08/02
6,461,947                       09/657,358                         10/08/02
6,461,954                       09/929,408                         10/08/02
6,461,957                       10/026,708                         10/08/02
6,461,960                       09/875,624                         10/08/02
6,461,962                       09/650,647                         10/08/02
6,461,968                       09/362,994                         10/08/02
6,461,971                       09/489,497                         10/08/02
6,461,973                       09/535,256                         10/08/02
6,461,982                       08/807,831                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 227 

6,461,983                       09/372,631                         10/08/02
6,461,984                       09/535,156                         10/08/02
6,461,991                       09/601,001                         10/08/02
6,461,999                       09/820,150                         10/08/02
6,462,004                       09/779,073                         10/08/02
6,462,020                       09/189,130                         10/08/02
6,462,024                       09/614,122                         10/08/02
6,462,027                       09/347,959                         10/08/02
6,462,031                       09/738,483                         10/08/02
6,462,038                       09/648,684                         10/08/02
6,462,040                       09/907,909                         10/08/02
6,462,041                       09/495,120                         10/08/02
6,462,047                       09/744,859                         10/08/02
6,462,050                       09/916,745                         10/08/02
6,462,056                       09/380,202                         10/08/02
6,462,059                       10/095,392                         10/08/02
6,462,064                       09/498,347                         10/08/02
6,462,067                       09/707,343                         10/08/02
6,462,068                       09/644,305                         10/08/02
6,462,070                       08/812,606                         10/08/02
6,462,072                       09/157,566                         10/08/02
6,462,073                       09/899,641                         10/08/02
6,462,075                       09/748,599                         10/08/02
6,462,077                       09/899,713                         10/08/02
6,462,079                       09/999,545                         10/08/02
6,462,081                       09/720,675                         10/08/02
6,462,082                       09/965,348                         10/08/02
6,462,083                       10/010,316                         10/08/02
6,462,084                       09/853,392                         10/08/02
6,462,092                       09/990,811                         10/08/02
6,462,095                       09/529,528                         10/08/02
6,462,097                       09/822,409                         10/08/02
6,462,101                       09/949,734                         10/08/02
6,462,108                       09/620,170                         10/08/02
6,462,112                       09/886,276                         10/08/02
6,462,121                       09/759,216                         10/08/02
6,462,125                       09/464,946                         10/08/02
6,462,127                       09/743,116                         10/08/02
6,462,130                       09/531,164                         10/08/02
6,462,132                       09/756,290                         10/08/02
6,462,133                       09/852,112                         10/08/02
6,462,134                       09/743,123                         10/08/02
6,462,139                       09/437,618                         10/08/02
6,462,146                       09/681,379                         10/08/02
6,462,148                       09/297,203                         10/08/02
6,462,158                       09/638,893                         10/08/02
6,462,163                       09/808,653                         10/08/02
6,462,167                       09/831,917                         10/08/02
6,462,172                       09/497,435                         10/08/02
6,462,174                       09/891,035                         10/08/02
6,462,177                       09/053,374                         10/08/02
6,462,178                       09/442,349                         10/08/02
6,462,182                       09/616,658                         10/08/02
6,462,188                       09/061,154                         10/08/02
6,462,191                       09/615,877                         10/08/02
6,462,197                       09/819,581                         10/08/02
6,462,198                       09/545,622                         10/08/02
6,462,199                       09/716,359                         10/08/02
6,462,203                       09/941,078                         10/08/02
6,462,204                       09/963,022                         10/08/02
6,462,225                       09/741,868                         10/08/02
6,462,228                       09/582,121                         10/08/02
6,462,233                       09/555,294                         10/08/02
6,462,243                       09/951,570                         10/08/02
6,462,247                       08/679,889                         10/08/02
6,462,262                       09/849,011                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 228 

6,462,264                       09/361,498                         10/08/02
6,462,270                       09/836,996                         10/08/02
6,462,276                       09/755,929                         10/08/02
6,462,278                       09/948,344                         10/08/02
6,462,280                       09/866,380                         10/08/02
6,462,283                       09/390,024                         10/08/02
6,462,285                       09/827,111                         10/08/02
6,462,290                       09/986,428                         10/08/02
6,462,303                       09/739,469                         10/08/02
6,462,307                       09/613,828                         10/08/02
6,462,308                       09/448,683                         10/08/02
6,462,313                       09/785,447                         10/08/02
6,462,314                       09/704,343                         10/08/02
6,462,317                       09/848,787                         10/08/02
6,462,331                       09/318,409                         10/08/02
6,462,343                       09/768,081                         10/08/02
6,462,347                       09/406,849                         10/08/02
6,462,352                       09/514,183                         10/08/02
6,462,356                       09/869,157                         10/08/02
6,462,359                       09/814,980                         10/08/02
6,462,361                       09/662,587                         10/08/02
6,462,362                       09/711,506                         10/08/02
6,462,366                       09/481,674                         10/08/02
6,462,370                       09/945,159                         10/08/02
6,462,372                       09/973,094                         10/08/02
6,462,373                       09/725,564                         10/08/02
6,462,375                       10/109,873                         10/08/02
6,462,377                       09/781,497                         10/08/02
6,462,378                       09/427,541                         10/08/02
6,462,379                       09/311,309                         10/08/02
6,462,385                       09/447,991                         10/08/02
6,462,391                       09/686,885                         10/08/02
6,462,394                       09/312,373                         10/08/02
6,462,422                       09/865,760                         10/08/02
6,462,424                       09/705,735                         10/08/02
6,462,425                       09/429,635                         10/08/02
6,462,428                       09/929,077                         10/08/02
6,462,434                       09/738,829                         10/08/02
6,462,436                       09/373,942                         10/08/02
6,462,439                       09/529,692                         10/08/02
6,462,443                       09/761,712                         10/08/02
6,462,448                       09/609,855                         10/08/02
6,462,457                       09/749,062                         10/08/02
6,462,458                       09/840,465                         10/08/02
6,462,459                       09/596,989                         10/08/02
6,462,460                       09/844,218                         10/08/02
6,462,462                       09/265,095                         10/08/02
6,462,464                       09/985,270                         10/08/02
6,462,465                       09/525,099                         10/08/02
6,462,476                       09/338,469                         10/08/02
6,462,477                       09/888,706                         10/08/02
6,462,483                       09/442,765                         10/08/02
6,462,485                       09/808,227                         10/08/02
6,462,494                       09/533,143                         10/08/02
6,462,500                       09/593,763                         10/08/02
6,462,502                       09/413,244                         10/08/02
6,462,503                       09/703,808                         10/08/02
6,462,505                       09/677,969                         10/08/02
6,462,511                       09/722,859                         10/08/02
6,462,513                       09/659,934                         10/08/02
6,462,514                       09/879,102                         10/08/02
6,462,519                       09/874,690                         10/08/02
6,462,521                       09/908,007                         10/08/02
6,462,523                       09/937,142                         10/08/02
6,462,528                       09/577,239                         10/08/02
6,462,533                       09/723,869                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 229 

6,462,536                       09/446,034                         10/08/02
6,462,537                       09/925,481                         10/08/02
6,462,544                       09/695,506                         10/08/02
6,462,548                       09/902,364                         10/08/02
6,462,573                       09/527,576                         10/08/02
6,462,578                       09/482,149                         10/08/02
6,462,587                       09/824,221                         10/08/02
6,462,588                       09/541,238                         10/08/02
6,462,589                       09/990,751                         10/08/02
6,462,591                       09/882,420                         10/08/02
6,462,605                       09/707,287                         10/08/02
6,462,611                       10/029,299                         10/08/02
6,462,612                       09/894,151                         10/08/02
6,462,614                       09/766,839                         10/08/02
6,462,631                       09/783,773                         10/08/02
6,462,666                       08/433,548                         10/08/02
6,462,671                       09/175,859                         10/08/02
6,462,695                       09/945,375                         10/08/02
6,462,701                       09/718,180                         10/08/02
6,462,711                       09/822,262                         10/08/02
6,462,712                       09/910,895                         10/08/02
6,462,715                       09/813,364                         10/08/02
6,462,721                       09/915,505                         10/08/02
6,462,725                       09/549,341                         10/08/02
6,462,732                       09/899,306                         10/08/02
6,462,738                       09/466,540                         10/08/02
6,462,741                       09/365,078                         10/08/02
6,462,745                       09/961,463                         10/08/02
6,462,764                       09/802,403                         10/08/02
6,462,768                       08/981,959                         10/08/02
6,462,770                       09/064,667                         10/08/02
6,462,775                       09/265,462                         10/08/02
6,462,777                       09/114,489                         10/08/02
6,462,782                       09/468,087                         10/08/02
6,462,789                       09/277,158                         10/08/02
6,462,792                       09/718,412                         10/08/02
6,462,794                       09/414,481                         10/08/02
6,462,802                       09/234,120                         10/08/02
6,462,805                       09/874,519                         10/08/02
6,462,806                       09/750,063                         10/08/02
6,462,807                       09/572,560                         10/08/02
6,462,810                       09/525,164                         10/08/02
6,462,814                       09/526,979                         10/08/02
6,462,816                       09/621,423                         10/08/02
6,462,830                       08/624,807                         10/08/02
6,462,832                       09/576,276                         10/08/02
6,462,833                       09/258,097                         10/08/02
6,462,834                       09/019,194                         10/08/02
6,462,835                       09/353,997                         10/08/02
6,462,839                       09/276,249                         10/08/02
6,462,844                       09/236,326                         10/08/02
6,462,856                       09/584,543                         10/08/02
6,462,857                       09/761,316                         10/08/02
6,462,858                       09/783,529                         10/08/02
6,462,862                       09/962,170                         10/08/02
6,462,866                       09/506,287                         10/08/02
6,462,869                       09/701,666                         10/08/02
6,462,873                       09/617,033                         10/08/02
6,462,892                       09/717,341                         10/08/02
6,462,894                       09/784,354                         10/08/02
6,462,895                       09/794,022                         10/08/02
6,462,907                       09/369,420                         10/08/02
6,462,913                       09/670,265                         10/08/02
6,462,919                       09/442,798                         10/08/02
6,462,920                       09/220,300                         10/08/02
6,462,924                       09/940,793                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 230 

6,462,934                       09/758,705                         10/08/02
6,462,936                       09/806,467                         10/08/02
6,462,949                       09/633,060                         10/08/02
6,462,952                       09/870,686                         10/08/02
6,462,961                       09/705,612                         10/08/02
6,462,963                       10/076,008                         10/08/02
6,462,968                       09/955,962                         10/08/02
6,462,974                       09/963,642                         10/08/02
6,462,978                       09/947,507                         10/08/02
6,462,983                       09/825,627                         10/08/02
6,462,991                       09/878,915                         10/08/02
6,462,992                       09/764,717                         10/08/02
6,462,996                       09/943,011                         10/08/02
6,462,999                       09/906,649                         10/08/02
6,463,007                       09/934,691                         10/08/02
6,463,009                       09/644,738                         10/08/02
6,463,014                       09/236,073                         10/08/02
6,463,017                       09/581,407                         10/08/02
6,463,018                       09/355,006                         10/08/02
6,463,035                       09/223,319                         10/08/02
6,463,037                       09/167,262                         10/08/02
6,463,038                       09/214,952                         10/08/02
6,463,044                       09/204,362                         10/08/02
6,463,070                       09/407,588                         10/08/02
6,463,071                       09/136,104                         10/08/02
6,463,084                       09/971,796                         10/08/02
6,463,090                       09/596,516                         10/08/02
6,463,101                       09/271,431                         10/08/02
6,463,111                       09/865,324                         10/08/02
6,463,113                       08/869,627                         10/08/02
6,463,118                       09/751,074                         10/08/02
6,463,120                       09/775,114                         10/08/02
6,463,132                       08/426,972                         10/08/02
6,463,134                       09/631,228                         10/08/02
6,463,137                       09/316,042                         10/08/02
6,463,148                       09/685,033                         10/08/02
6,463,152                       09/257,740                         10/08/02
6,463,161                       09/982,261                         10/08/02
6,463,165                       09/277,848                         10/08/02
6,463,173                       08/550,435                         10/08/02
6,463,176                       08/893,929                         10/08/02
6,463,177                       09/186,343                         10/08/02
6,463,178                       09/242,348                         10/08/02
6,463,179                       09/574,136                         10/08/02
6,463,181                       09/749,493                         10/08/02
6,463,185                       09/275,062                         10/08/02
6,463,186                       09/684,283                         10/08/02
6,463,189                       09/513,777                         10/08/02
6,463,192                       09/794,319                         10/08/02
6,463,196                       10/022,565                         10/08/02
6,463,206                       09/612,323                         10/08/02
6,463,207                       09/383,159                         10/08/02
6,463,208                       08/996,346                         10/08/02
6,463,210                       09/638,003                         10/08/02
6,463,212                       09/507,584                         10/08/02
6,463,213                       09/702,734                         10/08/02
6,463,221                       09/760,756                         10/08/02
6,463,222                       09/516,294                         10/08/02
6,463,224                       09/620,838                         10/08/02
6,463,226                       09/818,737                         10/08/02
6,463,229                       09/809,167                         10/08/02
6,463,236                       09/874,290                         10/08/02
6,463,239                       09/723,789                         10/08/02
6,463,241                       09/842,342                         10/08/02
6,463,247                       09/591,502                         10/08/02
6,463,251                       09/860,594                         10/08/02
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 231 

6,463,252                       09/894,401                         10/08/02
6,463,253                       09/738,437                         10/08/02
6,463,256                       09/795,625                         10/08/02
6,463,264                       09/459,273                         10/08/02
6,463,266                       09/477,720                         10/08/02
6,463,273                       09/309,528                         10/08/02
6,463,274                       09/427,887                         10/08/02
6,463,294                       09/401,130                         10/08/02
6,463,306                       09/033,742                         10/08/02
6,463,317                       09/081,319                         10/08/02
6,463,319                       09/151,798                         10/08/02
6,463,321                       09/773,732                         10/08/02
6,463,329                       09/629,999                         10/08/02
6,463,335                       09/518,352                         10/08/02
6,463,338                       09/408,669                         10/08/02
6,463,341                       09/326,441                         10/08/02
6,463,350                       09/084,308                         10/08/02
6,463,353                       09/372,280                         10/08/02
6,463,370                       09/696,936                         10/08/02
6,463,372                       09/633,142                         10/08/02
6,463,373                       10/046,990                         10/08/02
6,463,384                       09/852,900                         10/08/02
6,463,397                       09/706,516                         10/08/02
6,463,403                       09/460,565                         10/08/02
6,463,406                       08/650,585                         10/08/02
6,463,420                       09/498,464                         10/08/02
6,463,424                       09/064,722                         10/08/02
6,463,432                       09/365,184                         10/08/02
6,463,437                       09/464,117                         10/08/02
6,463,438                       08/253,933                         10/08/02
6,463,457                       09/648,986                         10/08/02
6,463,458                       08/681,682                         10/08/02
6,463,469                       09/484,334                         10/08/02
6,463,475                       09/484,647                         10/08/02
6,463,488                       09/332,526                         10/08/02
6,463,489                       09/383,490                         10/08/02
6,463,495                       09/280,311                         10/08/02
6,463,501                       09/422,595                         10/08/02
6,463,504                       09/436,072                         10/08/02
6,463,512                       09/772,279                         10/08/02
6,463,520                       08/811,005                         10/08/02
6,463,527                       09/380,571                         10/08/02
6,463,529                       08/797,036                         10/08/02
6,463,540                       09/266,190                         10/08/02
6,463,545                       09/411,796                         10/08/02
6,463,554                       09/156,179                         10/08/02
6,463,558                       09/301,543                         10/08/02
6,463,562                       09/585,836                         10/08/02
6,463,565                       09/477,435                         10/08/02
6,463,583                       09/289,150                         10/08/02
6,463,585                       09/054,419                         10/08/02

                   PATENTS WHICH EXPIRED ON October 3, 2014
                    DUE TO FAILURE TO PAY MAINTENANCE FEES

Patent                          Application                           Issue
Number                             Number                              Date

7,114,188                       10/913,661                         10/03/06
7,114,191                       11/216,334                         10/03/06
7,114,192                       10/629,282                         10/03/06
7,114,195                       11/201,062                         10/03/06
7,114,196                       10/830,815                         10/03/06
7,114,201                       10/489,769                         10/03/06
7,114,202                       11/135,748                         10/03/06
7,114,211                       10/901,076                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 232 

7,114,213                       10/911,829                         10/03/06
7,114,218                       11/208,875                         10/03/06
7,114,233                       10/687,990                         10/03/06
7,114,243                       10/178,633                         10/03/06
7,114,244                       10/676,144                         10/03/06
7,114,245                       10/082,094                         10/03/06
7,114,248                       10/435,701                         10/03/06
7,114,250                       10/858,167                         10/03/06
7,114,252                       10/871,717                         10/03/06
7,114,258                       10/957,101                         10/03/06
7,114,269                       10/447,003                         10/03/06
7,114,274                       10/892,146                         10/03/06
7,114,279                       10/979,521                         10/03/06
7,114,280                       10/711,850                         10/03/06
7,114,281                       10/246,326                         10/03/06
7,114,291                       10/947,622                         10/03/06
7,114,292                       11/028,564                         10/03/06
7,114,296                       09/984,668                         10/03/06
7,114,304                       10/600,616                         10/03/06
7,114,326                       10/683,446                         10/03/06
7,114,334                       10/883,310                         10/03/06
7,114,347                       10/694,699                         10/03/06
7,114,348                       11/252,816                         10/03/06
7,114,358                       10/752,265                         10/03/06
7,114,359                       10/415,926                         10/03/06
7,114,376                       10/776,552                         10/03/06
7,114,377                       10/626,021                         10/03/06
7,114,380                       10/502,278                         10/03/06
7,114,391                       11/016,887                         10/03/06
7,114,393                       10/512,047                         10/03/06
7,114,397                       10/799,053                         10/03/06
7,114,400                       11/098,309                         10/03/06
7,114,401                       10/920,863                         10/03/06
7,114,404                       10/674,963                         10/03/06
7,114,418                       10/942,194                         10/03/06
7,114,433                       11/045,304                         10/03/06
7,114,434                       10/514,124                         10/03/06
7,114,437                       10/985,669                         10/03/06
7,114,438                       10/860,719                         10/03/06
7,114,441                       10/884,315                         10/03/06
7,114,459                       10/953,315                         10/03/06
7,114,461                       10/951,368                         10/03/06
7,114,464                       11/282,677                         10/03/06
7,114,467                       11/328,210                         10/03/06
7,114,470                       11/080,486                         10/03/06
7,114,472                       11/157,904                         10/03/06
7,114,476                       11/160,492                         10/03/06
7,114,482                       10/419,550                         10/03/06
7,114,486                       11/214,476                         10/03/06
7,114,493                       11/009,924                         10/03/06
7,114,503                       10/435,942                         10/03/06
7,114,504                       10/427,893                         10/03/06
7,114,505                       10/513,868                         10/03/06
7,114,506                       10/783,276                         10/03/06
7,114,516                       10/683,264                         10/03/06
7,114,525                       10/652,103                         10/03/06
7,114,530                       10/471,294                         10/03/06
7,114,532                       10/851,076                         10/03/06
7,114,535                       10/650,490                         10/03/06
7,114,537                       10/332,289                         10/03/06
7,114,549                       10/990,037                         10/03/06
7,114,550                       10/212,680                         10/03/06
7,114,551                       10/796,050                         10/03/06
7,114,566                       10/279,220                         10/03/06
7,114,572                       10/758,639                         10/03/06
7,114,593                       10/627,089                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 233 

7,114,596                       10/425,278                         10/03/06
7,114,602                       10/752,558                         10/03/06
7,114,603                       11/001,077                         10/03/06
7,114,610                       10/850,323                         10/03/06
7,114,614                       10/464,101                         10/03/06
7,114,618                       10/699,739                         10/03/06
7,114,625                       10/240,450                         10/03/06
7,114,628                       10/992,064                         10/03/06
7,114,636                       10/397,710                         10/03/06
7,114,640                       10/302,819                         10/03/06
7,114,662                       10/741,281                         10/03/06
7,114,665                       11/336,233                         10/03/06
7,114,669                       10/917,640                         10/03/06
7,114,670                       10/981,977                         10/03/06
7,114,672                       10/392,078                         10/03/06
7,114,673                       10/440,156                         10/03/06
7,114,675                       10/443,244                         10/03/06
7,114,679                       10/677,411                         10/03/06
7,114,688                       10/469,230                         10/03/06
7,114,693                       09/676,362                         10/03/06
7,114,700                       10/934,314                         10/03/06
7,114,707                       10/473,498                         10/03/06
7,114,710                       10/934,684                         10/03/06
7,114,713                       11/191,638                         10/03/06
7,114,716                       10/671,556                         10/03/06
7,114,720                       10/631,608                         10/03/06
7,114,723                       10/877,014                         10/03/06
7,114,724                       10/880,476                         10/03/06
7,114,725                       10/802,281                         10/03/06
7,114,728                       10/902,413                         10/03/06
7,114,738                       11/159,195                         10/03/06
7,114,742                       10/973,316                         10/03/06
7,114,743                       10/762,199                         10/03/06
7,114,752                       10/688,422                         10/03/06
7,114,756                       10/880,421                         10/03/06
7,114,759                       11/247,573                         10/03/06
7,114,760                       10/973,625                         10/03/06
7,114,761                       11/197,435                         10/03/06
7,114,765                       11/166,181                         10/03/06
7,114,776                       11/140,171                         10/03/06
7,114,782                       10/855,116                         10/03/06
7,114,791                       10/409,677                         10/03/06
7,114,792                       10/661,485                         10/03/06
7,114,793                       10/778,036                         10/03/06
7,114,796                       11/087,556                         10/03/06
7,114,798                       10/676,256                         10/03/06
7,114,799                       10/888,418                         10/03/06
7,114,800                       10/806,654                         10/03/06
7,114,806                       11/037,518                         10/03/06
7,114,810                       10/876,967                         10/03/06
7,114,811                       10/951,795                         10/03/06
7,114,814                       11/328,082                         10/03/06
7,114,815                       11/330,100                         10/03/06
7,114,823                       10/622,600                         10/03/06
7,114,825                       10/962,035                         10/03/06
7,114,846                       10/815,922                         10/03/06
7,114,848                       10/887,274                         10/03/06
7,114,853                       10/934,083                         10/03/06
7,114,855                       11/014,793                         10/03/06
7,114,860                       10/736,756                         10/03/06
7,114,861                       11/124,038                         10/03/06
7,114,871                       10/626,899                         10/03/06
7,114,872                       10/119,579                         10/03/06
7,114,882                       10/784,427                         10/03/06
7,114,883                       10/492,145                         10/03/06
7,114,884                       11/195,362                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 234 

7,114,899                       10/761,360                         10/03/06
7,114,900                       10/929,701                         10/03/06
7,114,913                       10/496,779                         10/03/06
7,114,922                       10/914,096                         10/03/06
7,114,925                       10/880,657                         10/03/06
7,114,936                       09/865,589                         10/03/06
7,114,939                       10/370,006                         10/03/06
7,114,946                       10/649,834                         10/03/06
7,114,952                       10/465,298                         10/03/06
7,114,965                       10/496,518                         10/03/06
7,114,976                       11/229,169                         10/03/06
7,114,977                       11/025,646                         10/03/06
7,114,978                       11/064,279                         10/03/06
7,114,981                       11/227,353                         10/03/06
7,114,982                       11/037,185                         10/03/06
7,114,985                       11/181,990                         10/03/06
7,114,997                       10/963,904                         10/03/06
7,114,998                       11/044,907                         10/03/06
7,115,000                       11/209,602                         10/03/06
7,115,005                       11/026,069                         10/03/06
7,115,007                       10/416,076                         10/03/06
7,115,011                       11/188,720                         10/03/06
7,115,012                       10/642,292                         10/03/06
7,115,014                       10/933,926                         10/03/06
7,115,016                       11/293,419                         10/03/06
7,115,018                       11/103,018                         10/03/06
7,115,039                       09/942,610                         10/03/06
7,115,042                       10/618,528                         10/03/06
7,115,044                       10/934,008                         10/03/06
7,115,066                       10/361,868                         10/03/06
7,115,069                       10/712,683                         10/03/06
7,115,072                       10/072,258                         10/03/06
7,115,075                       10/966,077                         10/03/06
7,115,077                       11/053,414                         10/03/06
7,115,082                       10/846,492                         10/03/06
7,115,086                       10/923,308                         10/03/06
7,115,088                       11/147,950                         10/03/06
7,115,099                       10/651,516                         10/03/06
7,115,103                       10/641,833                         10/03/06
7,115,113                       11/368,885                         10/03/06
7,115,117                       10/370,266                         10/03/06
7,115,122                       09/505,354                         10/03/06
7,115,127                       10/358,130                         10/03/06
7,115,130                       10/810,230                         10/03/06
7,115,141                       09/971,580                         10/03/06
7,115,144                       10/792,399                         10/03/06
7,115,151                       10/966,411                         10/03/06
7,115,153                       11/032,046                         10/03/06
7,115,159                       10/713,134                         10/03/06
7,115,162                       11/010,309                         10/03/06
7,115,167                       10/079,269                         10/03/06
7,115,177                       10/021,684                         10/03/06
7,115,178                       11/416,715                         10/03/06
7,115,182                       10/868,714                         10/03/06
7,115,192                       10/309,725                         10/03/06
7,115,193                       10/467,809                         10/03/06
7,115,197                       10/443,481                         10/03/06
7,115,199                       10/903,997                         10/03/06
7,115,206                       10/684,463                         10/03/06
7,115,211                       10/916,386                         10/03/06
7,115,212                       10/455,744                         10/03/06
7,115,213                       10/984,837                         10/03/06
7,115,223                       10/637,984                         10/03/06
7,115,227                       10/925,372                         10/03/06
7,115,234                       10/315,512                         10/03/06
7,115,236                       10/467,926                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 235 

7,115,248                       10/820,653                         10/03/06
7,115,249                       10/482,542                         10/03/06
7,115,253                       10/030,983                         10/03/06
7,115,263                       11/068,088                         10/03/06
7,115,267                       10/776,172                         10/03/06
7,115,281                       10/616,240                         10/03/06
7,115,285                       10/798,997                         10/03/06
7,115,288                       10/453,862                         10/03/06
7,115,296                       10/636,770                         10/03/06
7,115,302                       10/847,589                         10/03/06
7,115,305                       10/356,299                         10/03/06
7,115,307                       10/788,193                         10/03/06
7,115,312                       11/080,757                         10/03/06
7,115,313                       10/776,868                         10/03/06
7,115,320                       10/506,705                         10/03/06
7,115,324                       10/652,404                         10/03/06
7,115,332                       10/395,119                         10/03/06
7,115,343                       10/708,535                         10/03/06
7,115,344                       10/777,060                         10/03/06
7,115,346                       10/674,786                         10/03/06
7,115,350                       10/785,402                         10/03/06
7,115,351                       10/383,222                         10/03/06
7,115,355                       10/707,451                         10/03/06
7,115,357                       10/827,627                         10/03/06
7,115,362                       11/287,522                         10/03/06
7,115,364                       08/510,521                         10/03/06
7,115,365                       09/325,189                         10/03/06
7,115,372                       10/256,987                         10/03/06
7,115,376                       10/825,074                         10/03/06
7,115,379                       10/397,559                         10/03/06
7,115,381                       09/400,492                         10/03/06
7,115,388                       10/798,158                         10/03/06
7,115,389                       11/008,203                         10/03/06
7,115,392                       10/127,551                         10/03/06
7,115,403                       09/571,553                         10/03/06
7,115,405                       11/228,079                         10/03/06
7,115,409                       09/327,563                         10/03/06
7,115,413                       09/155,452                         10/03/06
7,115,418                       10/199,918                         10/03/06
7,115,420                       10/220,612                         10/03/06
7,115,427                       10/925,438                         10/03/06
7,115,432                       10/627,645                         10/03/06
7,115,437                       10/935,947                         10/03/06
7,115,442                       10/892,417                         10/03/06
7,115,457                       11/147,556                         10/03/06
7,115,459                       11/283,012                         10/03/06
7,115,470                       10/840,803                         10/03/06
7,115,474                       10/866,137                         10/03/06
7,115,476                       11/201,264                         10/03/06
7,115,481                       10/686,084                         10/03/06
7,115,490                       10/423,943                         10/03/06
7,115,497                       10/183,407                         10/03/06
7,115,505                       10/822,413                         10/03/06
7,115,515                       11/208,793                         10/03/06
7,115,516                       09/974,535                         10/03/06
7,115,517                       10/674,700                         10/03/06
7,115,523                       10/391,071                         10/03/06
7,115,526                       10/101,076                         10/03/06
7,115,528                       10/425,514                         10/03/06
7,115,529                       10/629,011                         10/03/06
7,115,534                       10/847,891                         10/03/06
7,115,539                       10/753,451                         10/03/06
7,115,542                       10/748,913                         10/03/06
7,115,557                       10/225,237                         10/03/06
7,115,558                       10/433,485                         10/03/06
7,115,559                       10/489,082                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 236 

7,115,563                       10/447,770                         10/03/06
7,115,567                       10/245,120                         10/03/06
7,115,571                       10/048,302                         10/03/06
7,115,574                       10/015,055                         10/03/06
7,115,576                       10/481,597                         10/03/06
7,115,577                       11/023,825                         10/03/06
7,115,578                       10/885,374                         10/03/06
7,115,579                       09/845,623                         10/03/06
7,115,580                       09/980,953                         10/03/06
7,115,581                       10/144,391                         10/03/06
7,115,584                       10/351,170                         10/03/06
7,115,591                       10/464,928                         10/03/06
7,115,599                       10/432,572                         10/03/06
7,115,603                       10/494,204                         10/03/06
7,115,604                       10/450,304                         10/03/06
7,115,605                       10/818,074                         10/03/06
7,115,608                       10/380,784                         10/03/06
7,115,611                       10/978,155                         10/03/06
7,115,615                       10/344,678                         10/03/06
7,115,618                       10/812,343                         10/03/06
7,115,619                       10/398,767                         10/03/06
7,115,620                       10/282,540                         10/03/06
7,115,623                       10/480,378                         10/03/06
7,115,628                       10/483,913                         10/03/06
7,115,631                       10/195,974                         10/03/06
7,115,650                       09/937,032                         10/03/06
7,115,655                       10/510,923                         10/03/06
7,115,657                       10/332,464                         10/03/06
7,115,671                       10/159,982                         10/03/06
7,115,675                       10/841,334                         10/03/06
7,115,677                       10/496,163                         10/03/06
7,115,678                       10/144,768                         10/03/06
7,115,680                       10/848,355                         10/03/06
7,115,681                       10/482,897                         10/03/06
7,115,683                       10/473,915                         10/03/06
7,115,684                       10/541,925                         10/03/06
7,115,695                       10/482,872                         10/03/06
7,115,704                       10/897,028                         10/03/06
7,115,707                       10/665,184                         10/03/06
7,115,712                       09/725,324                         10/03/06
7,115,717                       10/478,056                         10/03/06
7,115,720                       10/615,484                         10/03/06
7,115,722                       09/194,164                         10/03/06
7,115,724                       10/208,483                         10/03/06
7,115,730                       09/528,682                         10/03/06
7,115,731                       11/027,399                         10/03/06
7,115,734                       10/151,754                         10/03/06
7,115,738                       09/805,296                         10/03/06
7,115,741                       10/237,153                         10/03/06
7,115,743                       11/009,237                         10/03/06
7,115,749                       11/259,397                         10/03/06
7,115,750                       10/088,771                         10/03/06
7,115,753                       10/637,280                         10/03/06
7,115,756                       10/875,670                         10/03/06
7,115,762                       10/884,844                         10/03/06
7,115,763                       10/273,049                         10/03/06
7,115,765                       10/505,201                         10/03/06
7,115,777                       10/516,054                         10/03/06
7,115,780                       10/497,379                         10/03/06
7,115,782                       10/516,454                         10/03/06
7,115,786                       10/503,498                         10/03/06
7,115,788                       10/870,984                         10/03/06
7,115,794                       10/849,082                         10/03/06
7,115,797                       10/388,005                         10/03/06
7,115,799                       10/652,731                         10/03/06
7,115,803                       10/933,322                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 237 

7,115,806                       10/963,322                         10/03/06
7,115,831                       10/505,023                         10/03/06
7,115,834                       10/605,018                         10/03/06
7,115,835                       11/183,518                         10/03/06
7,115,843                       11/041,221                         10/03/06
7,115,848                       10/953,646                         10/03/06
7,115,863                       09/616,076                         10/03/06
7,115,868                       10/883,990                         10/03/06
7,115,874                       10/637,490                         10/03/06
7,115,877                       10/855,563                         10/03/06
7,115,885                       10/684,115                         10/03/06
7,115,894                       10/887,580                         10/03/06
7,115,898                       10/512,244                         10/03/06
7,115,902                       09/499,619                         10/03/06
7,115,905                       10/889,134                         10/03/06
7,115,912                       10/324,963                         10/03/06
7,115,919                       10/104,779                         10/03/06
7,115,929                       10/822,062                         10/03/06
7,115,953                       11/049,661                         10/03/06
7,115,964                       11/134,391                         10/03/06
7,115,979                       10/954,144                         10/03/06
7,115,989                       10/923,957                         10/03/06
7,116,005                       11/059,157                         10/03/06
7,116,012                       10/630,496                         10/03/06
7,116,017                       11/067,919                         10/03/06
7,116,019                       11/029,978                         10/03/06
7,116,029                       10/894,688                         10/03/06
7,116,030                       10/513,135                         10/03/06
7,116,036                       10/909,062                         10/03/06
7,116,050                       10/700,399                         10/03/06
7,116,052                       10/831,090                         10/03/06
7,116,055                       10/818,664                         10/03/06
7,116,058                       10/998,550                         10/03/06
7,116,062                       11/096,643                         10/03/06
7,116,063                       10/900,081                         10/03/06
7,116,064                       10/789,662                         10/03/06
7,116,067                       10/979,348                         10/03/06
7,116,073                       11/200,835                         10/03/06
7,116,093                       10/768,470                         10/03/06
7,116,105                       11/095,520                         10/03/06
7,116,119                       11/059,164                         10/03/06
7,116,122                       11/041,331                         10/03/06
7,116,124                       10/327,246                         10/03/06
7,116,125                       10/898,219                         10/03/06
7,116,127                       10/640,736                         10/03/06
7,116,138                       11/045,043                         10/03/06
7,116,150                       10/868,515                         10/03/06
7,116,152                       11/031,546                         10/03/06
7,116,153                       10/842,571                         10/03/06
7,116,157                       10/898,647                         10/03/06
7,116,161                       10/939,369                         10/03/06
7,116,163                       10/903,901                         10/03/06
7,116,179                       10/970,245                         10/03/06
7,116,190                       11/023,880                         10/03/06
7,116,191                       11/072,855                         10/03/06
7,116,198                       10/936,957                         10/03/06
7,116,201                       11/296,262                         10/03/06
7,116,205                       10/799,065                         10/03/06
7,116,209                       10/487,597                         10/03/06
7,116,213                       10/718,924                         10/03/06
7,116,214                       10/942,718                         10/03/06
7,116,242                       10/306,077                         10/03/06
7,116,259                       10/847,783                         10/03/06
7,116,264                       11/185,298                         10/03/06
7,116,276                       11/092,187                         10/03/06
7,116,280                       10/986,965                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 238 

7,116,284                       09/726,022                         10/03/06
7,116,289                       10/362,693                         10/03/06
7,116,293                       09/876,584                         10/03/06
7,116,302                       09/342,236                         10/03/06
7,116,305                       10/160,953                         10/03/06
7,116,306                       10/438,917                         10/03/06
7,116,311                       10/435,256                         10/03/06
7,116,319                       10/440,229                         10/03/06
7,116,325                       11/076,139                         10/03/06
7,116,345                       10/726,594                         10/03/06
7,116,349                       10/907,498                         10/03/06
7,116,350                       10/716,972                         10/03/06
7,116,355                       09/673,381                         10/03/06
7,116,356                       10/222,470                         10/03/06
7,116,369                       09/497,154                         10/03/06
7,116,371                       10/952,790                         10/03/06
7,116,373                       10/705,450                         10/03/06
7,116,378                       09/923,920                         10/03/06
7,116,395                       10/877,315                         10/03/06
7,116,396                       10/944,783                         10/03/06
7,116,405                       10/897,082                         10/03/06
7,116,415                       10/872,032                         10/03/06
7,116,420                       10/713,675                         10/03/06
7,116,421                       10/384,598                         10/03/06
7,116,425                       10/607,840                         10/03/06
7,116,433                       09/514,649                         10/03/06
7,116,434                       09/921,556                         10/03/06
7,116,436                       10/100,340                         10/03/06
7,116,450                       10/621,777                         10/03/06
7,116,462                       10/468,873                         10/03/06
7,116,464                       11/028,547                         10/03/06
7,116,474                       11/183,855                         10/03/06
7,116,477                       10/404,523                         10/03/06
7,116,479                       09/909,661                         10/03/06
7,116,483                       11/122,555                         10/03/06
7,116,490                       11/213,688                         10/03/06
7,116,493                       10/952,282                         10/03/06
7,116,495                       11/144,231                         10/03/06
7,116,500                       11/247,166                         10/03/06
7,116,502                       11/044,915                         10/03/06
7,116,503                       09/592,393                         10/03/06
7,116,506                       11/208,307                         10/03/06
7,116,508                       11/044,298                         10/03/06
7,116,515                       11/003,029                         10/03/06
7,116,520                       10/235,578                         10/03/06
7,116,521                       11/208,184                         10/03/06
7,116,531                       10/915,272                         10/03/06
7,116,534                       10/611,557                         10/03/06
7,116,543                       10/448,822                         10/03/06
7,116,552                       11/045,266                         10/03/06
7,116,558                       10/477,318                         10/03/06
7,116,560                       10/995,259                         10/03/06
7,116,563                       11/133,902                         10/03/06
7,116,566                       10/271,337                         10/03/06
7,116,568                       11/188,962                         10/03/06
7,116,576                       10/957,058                         10/03/06
7,116,579                       10/851,517                         10/03/06
7,116,591                       11/089,286                         10/03/06
7,116,594                       10/933,706                         10/03/06
7,116,598                       11/084,037                         10/03/06
7,116,604                       10/790,222                         10/03/06
7,116,617                       10/241,254                         10/03/06
7,116,618                       11/126,674                         10/03/06
7,116,633                       09/825,941                         10/03/06
7,116,635                       10/178,225                         10/03/06
7,116,644                       09/993,339                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 239 

7,116,645                       11/087,764                         10/03/06
7,116,647                       09/889,000                         10/03/06
7,116,649                       10/006,754                         10/03/06
7,116,650                       10/115,016                         10/03/06
7,116,676                       09/976,155                         10/03/06
7,116,715                       10/114,268                         10/03/06
7,116,718                       10/242,320                         10/03/06
7,116,733                       10/139,368                         10/03/06
7,116,735                       09/984,685                         10/03/06
7,116,741                       10/009,770                         10/03/06
7,116,742                       10/055,120                         10/03/06
7,116,746                       10/235,957                         10/03/06
7,116,750                       11/004,277                         10/03/06
7,116,751                       10/817,129                         10/03/06
7,116,757                       10/994,112                         10/03/06
7,116,769                       10/374,117                         10/03/06
7,116,775                       10/329,707                         10/03/06
7,116,777                       10/117,438                         10/03/06
7,116,778                       10/260,696                         10/03/06
7,116,779                       08/993,271                         10/03/06
7,116,790                       10/467,316                         10/03/06
7,116,797                       10/023,062                         10/03/06
7,116,814                       10/256,008                         10/03/06
7,116,819                       09/935,677                         10/03/06
7,116,822                       10/611,489                         10/03/06
7,116,842                       10/258,153                         10/03/06
7,116,855                       10/879,094                         10/03/06
7,116,856                       10/901,173                         10/03/06
7,116,863                       10/819,271                         10/03/06
7,116,865                       10/315,766                         10/03/06
7,116,867                       10/483,507                         10/03/06
7,116,868                       11/220,850                         10/03/06
7,116,873                       10/853,020                         10/03/06
7,116,882                       10/521,211                         10/03/06
7,116,884                       10/440,254                         10/03/06
7,116,890                       09/891,061                         10/03/06
7,116,892                       10/257,219                         10/03/06
7,116,897                       09/942,617                         10/03/06
7,116,900                       11/183,326                         10/03/06
7,116,904                       10/103,896                         10/03/06
7,116,905                       10/108,734                         10/03/06
7,116,907                       09/248,103                         10/03/06
7,116,913                       10/958,277                         10/03/06
7,116,949                       10/685,481                         10/03/06
7,116,952                       10/682,589                         10/03/06
7,116,955                       10/253,245                         10/03/06
7,116,971                       10/232,104                         10/03/06
7,116,974                       10/426,046                         10/03/06
7,116,983                       10/852,181                         10/03/06
7,116,984                       09/830,816                         10/03/06
7,116,991                       09/826,908                         10/03/06
7,116,992                       09/601,132                         10/03/06
7,117,006                       09/969,995                         10/03/06
7,117,007                       10/660,080                         10/03/06
7,117,024                       10/047,787                         10/03/06
7,117,043                       10/402,675                         10/03/06
7,117,056                       11/120,018                         10/03/06
7,117,063                       11/240,178                         10/03/06
7,117,064                       11/358,793                         10/03/06
7,117,073                       10/895,332                         10/03/06
7,117,079                       10/361,485                         10/03/06
7,117,081                       10/687,662                         10/03/06
7,117,090                       10/930,003                         10/03/06
7,117,096                       10/153,159                         10/03/06
7,117,107                       11/064,494                         10/03/06
7,117,110                       10/902,838                         10/03/06
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 240 

7,117,128                       10/854,836                         10/03/06
7,117,145                       09/692,725                         10/03/06
7,117,150                       09/871,368                         10/03/06
7,117,157                       09/532,533                         10/03/06
7,117,160                       09/474,643                         10/03/06
7,117,162                       09/151,666                         10/03/06
7,117,163                       09/594,652                         10/03/06
7,117,169                       09/853,976                         10/03/06
7,117,171                       09/492,133                         10/03/06
7,117,185                       10/439,374                         10/03/06
7,117,201                       10/102,353                         10/03/06
7,117,204                       10/728,169                         10/03/06
7,117,207                       10/660,103                         10/03/06
7,117,209                       10/402,699                         10/03/06
7,117,217                       10/276,357                         10/03/06
7,117,221                       10/339,419                         10/03/06
7,117,226                       09/726,023                         10/03/06
7,117,228                       09/810,548                         10/03/06
7,117,231                       09/994,544                         10/03/06
7,117,237                       10/375,995                         10/03/06
7,117,242                       09/886,672                         10/03/06
7,117,249                       09/697,088                         10/03/06
7,117,270                       10/199,439                         10/03/06
7,117,271                       09/774,117                         10/03/06
7,117,291                       10/787,240                         10/03/06
7,117,292                       10/822,394                         10/03/06
7,117,297                       10/443,747                         10/03/06
7,117,300                       10/281,814                         10/03/06
7,117,314                       10/822,702                         10/03/06
7,117,315                       10/603,093                         10/03/06
7,117,321                       10/614,219                         10/03/06
7,117,324                       10/273,653                         10/03/06
7,117,336                       10/232,691                         10/03/06
7,117,338                       10/650,105                         10/03/06
7,117,354                       09/620,722                         10/03/06
7,117,370                       10/077,864                         10/03/06
7,117,397                       09/723,768                         10/03/06
7,117,402                       10/286,450                         10/03/06
7,117,406                       10/390,759                         10/03/06
7,117,417                       10/630,302                         10/03/06
7,117,423                       10/423,846                         10/03/06
7,117,434                       09/893,788                         10/03/06
7,117,444                       09/768,466                         10/03/06
7,117,454                       10/693,150                         10/03/06
7,117,459                       10/719,774                         10/03/06
7,117,464                       10/368,837                         10/03/06
7,117,466                       10/665,273                         10/03/06
7,117,468                       10/229,170                         10/03/06
7,117,470                       10/684,211                         10/03/06
7,117,492                       09/823,755                         10/03/06
7,117,500                       10/251,230                         10/03/06
7,117,512                       10/146,477                         10/03/06
7,117,531                       09/922,945                         10/03/06
7,117,535                       10/022,225                         10/03/06

                   PATENTS WHICH EXPIRED ON October 5, 2014
                    DUE TO FAILURE TO PAY MAINTENANCE FEES

Patent                          Application                           Issue
Number                             Number                              Date

7,805,769                       11/683,834                         10/05/10
7,805,772                       11/233,926                         10/05/10
7,805,773                       11/716,796                         10/05/10
7,805,778                       11/845,782                         10/05/10
7,805,781                       12/454,391                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 241 

7,805,783                       11/891,384                         10/05/10
7,805,787                       11/577,624                         10/05/10
7,805,789                       12/380,422                         10/05/10
7,805,792                       11/566,983                         10/05/10
7,805,810                       11/716,114                         10/05/10
7,805,816                       11/607,840                         10/05/10
7,805,821                       11/841,455                         10/05/10
7,805,829                       11/037,358                         10/05/10
7,805,836                       11/939,644                         10/05/10
7,805,840                       10/509,568                         10/05/10
7,805,846                       12/407,995                         10/05/10
7,805,847                       12/357,675                         10/05/10
7,805,849                       12/316,704                         10/05/10
7,805,850                       11/556,569                         10/05/10
7,805,853                       11/469,364                         10/05/10
7,805,855                       12/654,985                         10/05/10
7,805,863                       10/990,591                         10/05/10
7,805,872                       12/222,398                         10/05/10
7,805,879                       11/937,181                         10/05/10
7,805,882                       11/414,931                         10/05/10
7,805,885                       11/018,237                         10/05/10
7,805,888                       10/374,760                         10/05/10
7,805,892                       11/791,628                         10/05/10
7,805,894                       11/608,646                         10/05/10
7,805,910                       11/060,587                         10/05/10
7,805,926                       11/797,026                         10/05/10
7,805,936                       12/405,180                         10/05/10
7,805,950                       11/925,396                         10/05/10
7,805,953                       11/463,037                         10/05/10
7,805,959                       11/598,802                         10/05/10
7,805,960                       11/551,146                         10/05/10
7,805,966                       12/542,013                         10/05/10
7,805,977                       11/510,881                         10/05/10
7,805,987                       12/229,027                         10/05/10
7,805,988                       11/626,461                         10/05/10
7,805,992                       11/729,129                         10/05/10
7,806,002                       12/054,964                         10/05/10
7,806,008                       12/137,559                         10/05/10
7,806,010                       12/048,497                         10/05/10
7,806,016                       11/095,237                         10/05/10
7,806,028                       11/313,045                         10/05/10
7,806,031                       10/018,609                         10/05/10
7,806,052                       12/318,084                         10/05/10
7,806,053                       11/501,659                         10/05/10
7,806,059                       11/843,630                         10/05/10
7,806,064                       12/322,814                         10/05/10
7,806,066                       12/315,828                         10/05/10
7,806,070                       12/127,344                         10/05/10
7,806,086                       11/944,688                         10/05/10
7,806,088                       11/989,642                         10/05/10
7,806,101                       12/586,635                         10/05/10
7,806,102                       12/586,636                         10/05/10
7,806,105                       11/910,882                         10/05/10
7,806,110                       11/900,421                         10/05/10
7,806,117                       11/422,770                         10/05/10
7,806,124                       11/221,224                         10/05/10
7,806,128                       11/986,631                         10/05/10
7,806,129                       10/838,919                         10/05/10
7,806,160                       11/909,672                         10/05/10
7,806,167                       11/767,014                         10/05/10
7,806,174                       12/528,608                         10/05/10
7,806,204                       12/260,800                         10/05/10
7,806,205                       12/425,648                         10/05/10
7,806,207                       12/329,354                         10/05/10
7,806,225                       12/278,062                         10/05/10
7,806,231                       11/973,540                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 242 

7,806,241                       11/523,500                         10/05/10
7,806,245                       11/950,685                         10/05/10
7,806,247                       11/306,326                         10/05/10
7,806,261                       12/397,305                         10/05/10
7,806,264                       12/433,865                         10/05/10
7,806,266                       11/717,308                         10/05/10
7,806,271                       12/257,375                         10/05/10
7,806,279                       11/793,964                         10/05/10
7,806,280                       11/888,533                         10/05/10
7,806,281                       11/843,769                         10/05/10
7,806,287                       11/189,327                         10/05/10
7,806,291                       11/389,496                         10/05/10
7,806,295                       10/564,315                         10/05/10
7,806,304                       12/322,052                         10/05/10
7,806,305                       11/703,954                         10/05/10
7,806,308                       11/521,047                         10/05/10
7,806,310                       12/185,051                         10/05/10
7,806,312                       11/551,754                         10/05/10
7,806,335                       11/980,078                         10/05/10
7,806,336                       11/980,192                         10/05/10
7,806,340                       11/448,153                         10/05/10
7,806,342                       11/488,167                         10/05/10
7,806,350                       11/868,240                         10/05/10
7,806,353                       11/568,305                         10/05/10
7,806,354                       11/892,520                         10/05/10
7,806,355                       12/012,284                         10/05/10
7,806,357                       11/483,271                         10/05/10
7,806,358                       11/999,214                         10/05/10
7,806,359                       12/175,284                         10/05/10
7,806,379                       12/501,918                         10/05/10
7,806,395                       11/667,409                         10/05/10
7,806,403                       12/275,828                         10/05/10
7,806,405                       12/280,240                         10/05/10
7,806,406                       12/270,383                         10/05/10
7,806,425                       12/289,052                         10/05/10
7,806,427                       10/550,814                         10/05/10
7,806,429                       11/814,733                         10/05/10
7,806,434                       11/978,295                         10/05/10
7,806,437                       12/115,099                         10/05/10
7,806,438                       12/094,062                         10/05/10
7,806,441                       11/477,082                         10/05/10
7,806,443                       11/894,382                         10/05/10
7,806,449                       11/469,185                         10/05/10
7,806,453                       11/968,424                         10/05/10
7,806,456                       12/082,655                         10/05/10
7,806,457                       12/369,741                         10/05/10
7,806,461                       11/742,624                         10/05/10
7,806,464                       11/694,317                         10/05/10
7,806,471                       11/487,478                         10/05/10
7,806,473                       11/284,253                         10/05/10
7,806,480                       12/180,719                         10/05/10
7,806,484                       12/272,925                         10/05/10
7,806,485                       12/214,192                         10/05/10
7,806,498                       12/324,811                         10/05/10
7,806,499                       10/586,750                         10/05/10
7,806,500                       12/493,224                         10/05/10
7,806,505                       12/116,929                         10/05/10
7,806,513                       12/188,209                         10/05/10
7,806,514                       11/878,112                         10/05/10
7,806,527                       11/839,594                         10/05/10
7,806,529                       12/056,617                         10/05/10
7,806,536                       12/548,935                         10/05/10
7,806,540                       12/064,696                         10/05/10
7,806,545                       11/716,143                         10/05/10
7,806,546                       11/784,426                         10/05/10
7,806,549                       12/007,969                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 243 

7,806,552                       12/331,420                         10/05/10
7,806,554                       12/043,409                         10/05/10
7,806,557                       11/987,154                         10/05/10
7,806,579                       11/749,332                         10/05/10
7,806,603                       11/631,383                         10/05/10
7,806,611                       12/103,709                         10/05/10
7,806,612                       11/634,052                         10/05/10
7,806,616                       11/752,211                         10/05/10
7,806,617                       11/733,597                         10/05/10
7,806,618                       11/281,318                         10/05/10
7,806,620                       09/806,304                         10/05/10
7,806,622                       12/064,040                         10/05/10
7,806,626                       12/353,960                         10/05/10
7,806,628                       10/550,869                         10/05/10
7,806,637                       12/238,164                         10/05/10
7,806,642                       11/579,735                         10/05/10
7,806,644                       11/587,537                         10/05/10
7,806,649                       12/277,393                         10/05/10
7,806,659                       11/827,078                         10/05/10
7,806,664                       10/818,800                         10/05/10
7,806,679                       12/345,989                         10/05/10
7,806,688                       11/636,153                         10/05/10
7,806,689                       12/342,081                         10/05/10
7,806,712                       12/159,975                         10/05/10
7,806,726                       11/898,489                         10/05/10
7,806,728                       12/436,934                         10/05/10
7,806,734                       12/760,290                         10/05/10
7,806,745                       11/017,138                         10/05/10
7,806,781                       11/775,933                         10/05/10
7,806,787                       12/489,183                         10/05/10
7,806,795                       12/213,530                         10/05/10
7,806,800                       11/656,021                         10/05/10
7,806,808                       12/333,309                         10/05/10
7,806,815                       12/220,762                         10/05/10
7,806,830                       11/158,521                         10/05/10
7,806,840                       11/606,842                         10/05/10
7,806,848                       11/507,797                         10/05/10
7,806,852                       11/396,847                         10/05/10
7,806,860                       12/093,775                         10/05/10
7,806,862                       12/114,634                         10/05/10
7,806,866                       11/134,044                         10/05/10
7,806,874                       11/747,641                         10/05/10
7,806,876                       11/748,749                         10/05/10
7,806,878                       11/873,884                         10/05/10
7,806,883                       11/333,135                         10/05/10
7,806,895                       11/745,314                         10/05/10
7,806,907                       10/261,155                         10/05/10
7,806,908                       11/968,494                         10/05/10
7,806,920                       11/524,836                         10/05/10
7,806,922                       11/026,748                         10/05/10
7,806,935                       11/361,733                         10/05/10
7,806,937                       10/298,198                         10/05/10
7,806,943                       12/598,878                         10/05/10
7,806,960                       11/800,855                         10/05/10
7,806,964                       12/215,633                         10/05/10
7,806,966                       12/005,297                         10/05/10
7,806,980                       11/322,088                         10/05/10
7,806,995                       11/384,631                         10/05/10
7,806,998                       12/016,241                         10/05/10
7,807,000                       10/975,122                         10/05/10
7,807,004                       11/966,941                         10/05/10
7,807,020                       11/574,634                         10/05/10
7,807,025                       11/597,231                         10/05/10
7,807,036                       11/669,214                         10/05/10
7,807,052                       12/263,097                         10/05/10
7,807,064                       11/689,389                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 244 

7,807,066                       11/660,993                         10/05/10
7,807,076                       10/493,277                         10/05/10
7,807,078                       11/912,186                         10/05/10
7,807,079                       11/030,036                         10/05/10
7,807,086                       10/904,509                         10/05/10
7,807,089                       11/390,425                         10/05/10
7,807,096                       11/434,438                         10/05/10
7,807,106                       11/975,893                         10/05/10
7,807,119                       11/573,749                         10/05/10
7,807,123                       11/336,811                         10/05/10
7,807,127                       11/417,294                         10/05/10
7,807,133                       12/216,449                         10/05/10
7,807,134                       11/959,947                         10/05/10
7,807,150                       10/795,578                         10/05/10
7,807,154                       10/579,203                         10/05/10
7,807,161                       11/755,671                         10/05/10
7,807,168                       12/100,008                         10/05/10
7,807,170                       11/559,713                         10/05/10
7,807,184                       10/565,183                         10/05/10
7,807,201                       11/751,476                         10/05/10
7,807,202                       11/983,522                         10/05/10
7,807,204                       11/893,059                         10/05/10
7,807,220                       10/566,194                         10/05/10
7,807,228                       10/576,277                         10/05/10
7,807,234                       11/197,554                         10/05/10
7,807,246                       10/457,791                         10/05/10
7,807,251                       11/972,204                         10/05/10
7,807,253                       11/084,916                         10/05/10
7,807,271                       12/749,591                         10/05/10
7,807,278                       11/388,991                         10/05/10
7,807,285                       10/820,955                         10/05/10
7,807,294                       11/631,489                         10/05/10
7,807,317                       12/216,844                         10/05/10
7,807,322                       11/317,500                         10/05/10
7,807,323                       11/783,469                         10/05/10
7,807,324                       11/521,933                         10/05/10
7,807,332                       12/105,685                         10/05/10
7,807,333                       11/573,895                         10/05/10
7,807,334                       11/127,095                         10/05/10
7,807,335                       11/144,857                         10/05/10
7,807,336                       11/468,080                         10/05/10
7,807,338                       11/548,920                         10/05/10
7,807,358                       11/496,073                         10/05/10
7,807,364                       11/681,695                         10/05/10
7,807,369                       11/912,961                         10/05/10
7,807,377                       10/960,855                         10/05/10
7,807,379                       11/449,869                         10/05/10
7,807,384                       12/137,832                         10/05/10
7,807,388                       11/967,558                         10/05/10
7,807,395                       10/135,827                         10/05/10
7,807,399                       12/501,967                         10/05/10
7,807,411                       11/805,247                         10/05/10
7,807,412                       11/930,021                         10/05/10
7,807,413                       12/131,311                         10/05/10
7,807,415                       11/509,364                         10/05/10
7,807,421                       11/194,564                         10/05/10
7,807,426                       10/586,337                         10/05/10
7,807,430                       12/074,543                         10/05/10
7,807,451                       10/542,189                         10/05/10
7,807,453                       11/794,265                         10/05/10
7,807,455                       10/543,633                         10/05/10
7,807,457                       10/432,989                         10/05/10
7,807,494                       10/474,472                         10/05/10
7,807,497                       11/826,048                         10/05/10
7,807,513                       12/647,631                         10/05/10
7,807,515                       12/086,628                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 245 

7,807,518                       12/081,633                         10/05/10
7,807,525                       12/538,186                         10/05/10
7,807,526                       11/928,615                         10/05/10
7,807,531                       12/453,551                         10/05/10
7,807,538                       11/898,295                         10/05/10
7,807,545                       11/670,636                         10/05/10
7,807,552                       12/147,920                         10/05/10
7,807,555                       11/870,794                         10/05/10
7,807,562                       12/256,221                         10/05/10
7,807,568                       12/257,143                         10/05/10
7,807,570                       12/482,763                         10/05/10
7,807,573                       12/284,094                         10/05/10
7,807,574                       11/801,657                         10/05/10
7,807,578                       11/875,250                         10/05/10
7,807,589                       11/585,943                         10/05/10
7,807,604                       11/914,048                         10/05/10
7,807,605                       10/981,388                         10/05/10
7,807,624                       11/649,950                         10/05/10
7,807,636                       11/512,934                         10/05/10
7,807,640                       11/689,037                         10/05/10
7,807,648                       11/544,278                         10/05/10
7,807,658                       11/400,021                         10/05/10
7,807,660                       11/728,346                         10/05/10
7,807,663                       11/198,511                         10/05/10
7,807,669                       12/266,096                         10/05/10
7,807,672                       11/705,709                         10/05/10
7,807,673                       12/095,762                         10/05/10
7,807,677                       11/884,224                         10/05/10
7,807,684                       11/487,885                         10/05/10
7,807,685                       11/823,377                         10/05/10
7,807,688                       12/202,984                         10/05/10
7,807,690                       12/234,116                         10/05/10
7,807,692                       11/922,628                         10/05/10
7,807,694                       11/487,038                         10/05/10
7,807,698                       11/917,355                         10/05/10
7,807,700                       11/819,607                         10/05/10
7,807,705                       12/118,591                         10/05/10
7,807,720                       12/011,888                         10/05/10
7,807,723                       11/792,873                         10/05/10
7,807,725                       10/569,809                         10/05/10
7,807,728                       11/793,494                         10/05/10
7,807,731                       12/100,928                         10/05/10
7,807,732                       11/668,546                         10/05/10
7,807,751                       12/266,784                         10/05/10
7,807,760                       12/021,542                         10/05/10
7,807,764                       12/491,314                         10/05/10
7,807,774                       11/390,630                         10/05/10
7,807,775                       11/391,495                         10/05/10
7,807,776                       11/816,047                         10/05/10
7,807,782                       11/446,587                         10/05/10
7,807,793                       11/493,692                         10/05/10
7,807,800                       10/580,781                         10/05/10
7,807,803                       10/613,736                         10/05/10
7,807,804                       11/244,678                         10/05/10
7,807,830                       12/418,354                         10/05/10
7,807,833                       11/740,115                         10/05/10
7,807,834                       11/195,758                         10/05/10
7,807,838                       12/064,747                         10/05/10
7,807,843                       12/007,776                         10/05/10
7,807,846                       12/311,284                         10/05/10
7,807,855                       11/576,479                         10/05/10
7,807,856                       11/667,461                         10/05/10
7,807,862                       10/952,376                         10/05/10
7,807,869                       11/445,450                         10/05/10
7,807,870                       10/540,063                         10/05/10
7,807,872                       10/333,006                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 246 

7,807,881                       11/588,811                         10/05/10
7,807,920                       11/928,154                         10/05/10
7,807,927                       12/209,604                         10/05/10
7,807,928                       12/291,214                         10/05/10
7,807,944                       10/523,392                         10/05/10
7,807,945                       11/263,212                         10/05/10
7,807,957                       11/739,793                         10/05/10
7,807,967                       12/164,735                         10/05/10
7,807,976                       12/379,751                         10/05/10
7,807,981                       12/067,182                         10/05/10
7,807,987                       11/805,045                         10/05/10
7,807,991                       10/558,259                         10/05/10
7,807,996                       11/545,462                         10/05/10
7,807,997                       11/896,688                         10/05/10
7,807,998                       12/232,486                         10/05/10
7,808,003                       12/285,351                         10/05/10
7,808,011                       10/805,424                         10/05/10
7,808,018                       11/941,096                         10/05/10
7,808,020                       11/869,171                         10/05/10
7,808,021                       12/036,907                         10/05/10
7,808,025                       11/957,511                         10/05/10
7,808,030                       11/595,913                         10/05/10
7,808,031                       11/822,470                         10/05/10
7,808,039                       12/099,879                         10/05/10
7,808,045                       12/767,548                         10/05/10
7,808,054                       12/153,250                         10/05/10
7,808,056                       11/907,327                         10/05/10
7,808,066                       12/249,933                         10/05/10
7,808,082                       11/559,571                         10/05/10
7,808,083                       11/663,924                         10/05/10
7,808,099                       12/115,809                         10/05/10
7,808,104                       11/919,292                         10/05/10
7,808,106                       12/118,671                         10/05/10
7,808,120                       11/795,661                         10/05/10
7,808,121                       12/584,267                         10/05/10
7,808,127                       12/185,306                         10/05/10
7,808,132                       12/281,818                         10/05/10
7,808,135                       11/857,184                         10/05/10
7,808,142                       11/451,499                         10/05/10
7,808,152                       12/593,008                         10/05/10
7,808,158                       11/973,993                         10/05/10
7,808,168                       12/106,713                         10/05/10
7,808,171                       11/766,825                         10/05/10
7,808,174                       11/722,708                         10/05/10
7,808,179                       12/314,385                         10/05/10
7,808,180                       10/557,685                         10/05/10
7,808,182                       11/832,193                         10/05/10
7,808,188                       11/797,854                         10/05/10
7,808,190                       11/432,431                         10/05/10
7,808,203                       11/730,684                         10/05/10
7,808,214                       11/686,314                         10/05/10
7,808,224                       12/097,861                         10/05/10
7,808,227                       11/821,602                         10/05/10
7,808,234                       11/988,215                         10/05/10
7,808,252                       11/955,390                         10/05/10
7,808,257                       10/595,541                         10/05/10
7,808,259                       11/861,559                         10/05/10
7,808,261                       12/184,617                         10/05/10
7,808,268                       12/178,245                         10/05/10
7,808,277                       12/233,419                         10/05/10
7,808,280                       12/472,744                         10/05/10
7,808,284                       10/585,338                         10/05/10
7,808,287                       12/161,945                         10/05/10
7,808,352                       12/398,560                         10/05/10
7,808,358                       12/428,714                         10/05/10
7,808,359                       11/254,758                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 247 

7,808,363                       12/321,507                         10/05/10
7,808,366                       11/137,490                         10/05/10
7,808,376                       12/136,370                         10/05/10
7,808,394                       11/868,090                         10/05/10
7,808,397                       11/822,272                         10/05/10
7,808,426                       12/152,124                         10/05/10
7,808,431                       12/005,271                         10/05/10
7,808,432                       12/356,872                         10/05/10
7,808,436                       11/573,208                         10/05/10
7,808,439                       12/205,785                         10/05/10
7,808,446                       11/495,353                         10/05/10
7,808,452                       11/662,494                         10/05/10
7,808,461                       11/059,660                         10/05/10
7,808,465                       11/551,817                         10/05/10
7,808,474                       11/638,534                         10/05/10
7,808,475                       11/786,675                         10/05/10
7,808,477                       11/325,091                         10/05/10
7,808,484                       11/755,058                         10/05/10
7,808,495                       11/338,821                         10/05/10
7,808,501                       11/485,866                         10/05/10
7,808,515                       11/444,409                         10/05/10
7,808,517                       11/823,902                         10/05/10
7,808,526                       11/398,150                         10/05/10
7,808,541                       10/597,250                         10/05/10
7,808,549                       10/568,609                         10/05/10
7,808,550                       11/148,418                         10/05/10
7,808,558                       11/799,345                         10/05/10
7,808,561                       10/584,419                         10/05/10
7,808,577                       12/038,340                         10/05/10
7,808,605                       11/568,390                         10/05/10
7,808,606                       12/166,386                         10/05/10
7,808,610                       10/853,659                         10/05/10
7,808,653                       12/469,914                         10/05/10
7,808,657                       11/770,105                         10/05/10
7,808,661                       11/190,917                         10/05/10
7,808,670                       11/744,210                         10/05/10
7,808,673                       11/371,434                         10/05/10
7,808,687                       11/866,029                         10/05/10
7,808,704                       11/964,584                         10/05/10
7,808,706                       11/053,998                         10/05/10
7,808,711                       12/364,614                         10/05/10
7,808,718                       12/387,001                         10/05/10
7,808,720                       11/965,118                         10/05/10
7,808,729                       12/292,266                         10/05/10
7,808,730                       11/801,073                         10/05/10
7,808,733                       11/926,801                         10/05/10
7,808,738                       12/212,238                         10/05/10
7,808,745                       11/781,327                         10/05/10
7,808,755                       11/945,286                         10/05/10
7,808,760                       11/787,864                         10/05/10
7,808,768                       12/210,671                         10/05/10
7,808,771                       12/343,957                         10/05/10
7,808,778                       11/709,885                         10/05/10
7,808,779                       12/325,764                         10/05/10
7,808,781                       12/120,094                         10/05/10
7,808,783                       12/036,572                         10/05/10
7,808,785                       12/081,157                         10/05/10
7,808,788                       11/824,019                         10/05/10
7,808,790                       12/368,341                         10/05/10
7,808,791                       12/409,515                         10/05/10
7,808,796                       11/852,888                         10/05/10
7,808,801                       11/759,237                         10/05/10
7,808,802                       11/850,998                         10/05/10
7,808,814                       12/219,238                         10/05/10
7,808,829                       11/765,531                         10/05/10
7,808,856                       12/143,430                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 248 

7,808,860                       11/985,524                         10/05/10
7,808,863                       10/832,921                         10/05/10
7,808,866                       11/551,924                         10/05/10
7,808,870                       11/632,848                         10/05/10
7,808,873                       12/719,112                         10/05/10
7,808,874                       12/719,119                         10/05/10
7,808,876                       12/143,167                         10/05/10
7,808,879                       11/148,140                         10/05/10
7,808,880                       11/549,969                         10/05/10
7,808,894                       11/937,748                         10/05/10
7,808,901                       12/268,041                         10/05/10
7,808,904                       10/991,970                         10/05/10
7,808,916                       11/275,356                         10/05/10
7,808,921                       11/804,700                         10/05/10
7,808,932                       10/507,559                         10/05/10
7,808,933                       12/337,368                         10/05/10
7,808,968                       10/767,520                         10/05/10
7,808,975                       11/293,909                         10/05/10
7,808,976                       11/907,848                         10/05/10
7,808,984                       11/483,713                         10/05/10
7,808,990                       12/180,451                         10/05/10
7,809,004                       12/102,133                         10/05/10
7,809,005                       12/154,045                         10/05/10
7,809,008                       12/049,266                         10/05/10
7,809,011                       11/098,614                         10/05/10
7,809,029                       11/629,520                         10/05/10
7,809,036                       11/936,605                         10/05/10
7,809,039                       12/409,693                         10/05/10
7,809,051                       11/659,679                         10/05/10
7,809,053                       10/957,344                         10/05/10
7,809,054                       11/405,997                         10/05/10
7,809,069                       11/652,934                         10/05/10
7,809,071                       11/968,423                         10/05/10
7,809,073                       11/578,610                         10/05/10
7,809,093                       10/882,938                         10/05/10
7,809,097                       11/376,287                         10/05/10
7,809,103                       11/756,027                         10/05/10
7,809,104                       11/599,018                         10/05/10
7,809,113                       11/905,911                         10/05/10
7,809,120                       11/452,174                         10/05/10
7,809,121                       09/886,046                         10/05/10
7,809,134                       11/742,151                         10/05/10
7,809,146                       11/421,619                         10/05/10
7,809,147                       11/418,375                         10/05/10
7,809,165                       11/626,974                         10/05/10
7,809,172                       11/267,418                         10/05/10
7,809,191                       11/656,002                         10/05/10
7,809,195                       12/251,340                         10/05/10
7,809,210                       11/609,821                         10/05/10
7,809,213                       12/268,556                         10/05/10
7,809,221                       11/743,627                         10/05/10
7,809,239                       11/268,009                         10/05/10
7,809,240                       10/134,633                         10/05/10
7,809,255                       11/783,146                         10/05/10
7,809,259                       11/187,859                         10/05/10
7,809,262                       11/760,107                         10/05/10
7,809,277                       12/070,288                         10/05/10
7,809,281                       10/562,147                         10/05/10
7,809,310                       11/578,394                         10/05/10
7,809,329                       11/700,517                         10/05/10
7,809,340                       12/127,159                         10/05/10
7,809,347                       12/142,551                         10/05/10
7,809,375                       10/845,950                         10/05/10
7,809,376                       11/289,174                         10/05/10
7,809,380                       12/393,211                         10/05/10
7,809,397                       11/801,944                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 249 

7,809,408                       11/617,343                         10/05/10
7,809,415                       12/269,322                         10/05/10
7,809,444                       11/802,400                         10/05/10
7,809,455                       11/972,460                         10/05/10
7,809,469                       12/071,931                         10/05/10
7,809,498                       11/575,438                         10/05/10
7,809,516                       11/836,786                         10/05/10
7,809,520                       11/935,262                         10/05/10
7,809,524                       12/182,523                         10/05/10
7,809,525                       11/830,896                         10/05/10
7,809,527                       11/952,554                         10/05/10
7,809,541                       12/070,054                         10/05/10
7,809,542                       11/745,085                         10/05/10
7,809,543                       11/621,184                         10/05/10
7,809,546                       11/799,294                         10/05/10
7,809,547                       11/324,052                         10/05/10
7,809,552                       12/051,973                         10/05/10
7,809,581                       10/007,002                         10/05/10
7,809,596                       11/514,472                         10/05/10
7,809,599                       11/276,190                         10/05/10
7,809,605                       11/391,019                         10/05/10
7,809,612                       11/242,338                         10/05/10
7,809,626                       11/794,636                         10/05/10
7,809,647                       11/044,448                         10/05/10
7,809,655                       10/664,481                         10/05/10
7,809,666                       11/635,918                         10/05/10
7,809,677                       11/350,822                         10/05/10
7,809,704                       11/453,744                         10/05/10
7,809,709                       11/786,990                         10/05/10
7,809,718                       12/008,886                         10/05/10
7,809,726                       10/506,634                         10/05/10
7,809,730                       11/930,905                         10/05/10
7,809,732                       10/628,407                         10/05/10
7,809,734                       12/136,767                         10/05/10
7,809,736                       11/919,262                         10/05/10
7,809,737                       10/645,623                         10/05/10
7,809,743                       12/051,920                         10/05/10
7,809,749                       12/211,903                         10/05/10
7,809,753                       10/398,955                         10/05/10
7,809,754                       11/069,721                         10/05/10
7,809,814                       10/775,173                         10/05/10
7,809,815                       11/265,476                         10/05/10
7,809,819                       11/837,266                         10/05/10
7,809,821                       11/913,193                         10/05/10
7,809,825                       10/839,660                         10/05/10
7,809,830                       10/882,320                         10/05/10
7,809,838                       11/297,211                         10/05/10
7,809,852                       10/152,763                         10/05/10
7,809,853                       11/423,311                         10/05/10
7,809,866                       10/216,611                         10/05/10
7,809,870                       11/873,858                         10/05/10
7,809,879                       09/670,063                         10/05/10
7,809,896                       12/255,045                         10/05/10
7,809,902                       10/350,296                         10/05/10
7,809,911                       12/263,802                         10/05/10
7,809,916                       11/863,901                         10/05/10
7,809,935                       11/502,600                         10/05/10
7,809,952                       12/047,276                         10/05/10
7,809,958                       11/877,009                         10/05/10
7,809,965                       12/133,729                         10/05/10
7,809,971                       11/760,889                         10/05/10
7,809,985                       11/863,950                         10/05/10
7,809,995                       11/793,512                         10/05/10
7,809,997                       11/806,226                         10/05/10
7,810,000                       11/559,436                         10/05/10
7,810,005                       11/982,075                         10/05/10
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 250 

7,810,007                       10/578,655                         10/05/10
7,810,016                       11/593,012                         10/05/10
7,810,033                       11/931,108                         10/05/10
7,810,048                       11/413,059                         10/05/10
7,810,054                       12/041,729                         10/05/10
7,810,060                       12/132,714                         10/05/10
7,810,065                       11/844,861                         10/05/10
7,810,066                       11/866,699                         10/05/10
7,810,087                       12/132,468                         10/05/10
7,810,099                       10/870,374                         10/05/10
7,810,104                       11/784,045                         10/05/10
7,810,108                       11/466,068                         10/05/10
7,810,113                       11/401,385                         10/05/10
7,810,135                       11/968,673                         10/05/10
7,810,150                       11/965,414                         10/05/10
7,810,152                       10/141,549                         10/05/10
7,810,158                       11/013,598                         10/05/10
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 251 

Patents Reinstated Due to the Acceptance of a Late Maintenance Fee from 10/27/2014
                 Patents Reinstated Due to the Acceptance of a
                     Late Maintenance Fee from 10/27/2014

Patent         Application     Filing          Issue           Granted
Number         Number          Date            Date            Date

5,838,116      08/632,297      04/15/1996      11/17/1998      10/31/2014
6,175,159      09/062,720      04/20/1998      01/16/2001      10/27/2014
6,263,884      09/525,601      03/14/2000      07/24/2001      10/27/2014
6,297,680      09/540,748      03/31/2000      10/02/2001      10/27/2014
6,302,475      09/634,359      08/09/2000      10/16/2001      10/31/2014
6,403,530      09/748,501      12/20/2000      06/11/2002      10/28/2014
6,458,062      09/928,050      08/13/2001      10/01/2002      10/29/2014
6,571,245      09/239,412      01/28/1999      05/27/2003      10/27/2014
6,761,639      10/312,469      12/23/2002      07/13/2004      10/30/2014
6,813,021      09/767,919      01/24/2001      11/02/2004      10/29/2014
6,824,794      10/159,135      05/31/2002      11/30/2004      10/29/2014
6,836,175      10/638,304      08/12/2003      12/28/2004      10/27/2014
6,872,184      09/865,339      05/25/2001      03/29/2005      10/27/2014
6,945,946      10/150,693      05/17/2002      09/20/2005      10/31/2014
6,960,945      10/848,710      05/17/2004      11/01/2005      10/27/2014
7,017,940      10/502,852      01/13/2005      03/28/2006      10/28/2014
7,028,437      10/346,892      01/17/2003      04/18/2006      10/30/2014
7,044,215      10/856,471      05/28/2004      05/16/2006      10/29/2014
7,076,999      11/010,162      12/13/2004      07/18/2006      10/30/2014
7,077,602      11/040,828      01/20/2005      07/18/2006      10/28/2014
7,085,057      10/686,894      10/15/2003      08/01/2006      10/28/2014
7,105,006      10/641,101      08/15/2003      09/12/2006      10/29/2014
7,112,790      10/898,532      07/23/2004      09/26/2006      10/31/2014
7,203,657      09/655,520      09/05/2000      04/10/2007      10/27/2014
7,233,305      10/746,333      12/23/2003      06/19/2007      10/30/2014
7,287,285      10/459,774      06/13/2003      10/30/2007      10/30/2014
7,423,208      11/837,931      08/13/2007      09/09/2008      10/27/2014
7,441,534      10/543,744      07/29/2005      10/28/2008      10/27/2014
7,609,289      10/950,240      09/27/2004      10/27/2009      10/27/2014
7,647,774      11/100,197      04/05/2005      01/19/2010      10/31/2014
7,694,774      11/657,210      01/25/2007      04/13/2010      10/27/2014
7,700,131      11/183,726      07/18/2005      04/20/2010      10/31/2014
7,726,348      11/278,155      03/31/2006      06/01/2010      10/29/2014
7,739,172      10/919,426      08/16/2004      06/15/2010      10/27/2014
7,739,183      10/859,859      06/03/2004      06/15/2010      10/27/2014
7,783,363      11/876,644      10/22/2007      08/24/2010      10/31/2014
7,794,965      10/579,369      05/15/2006      09/14/2010      10/30/2014
7,800,485      11/875,331      10/19/2007      09/21/2010      10/27/2014
7,802,807      12/046,211      03/11/2008      09/28/2010      10/27/2014
7,809,875      12/164,678      06/30/2008      10/05/2010      10/29/2014
7,822,634      11/772,026      06/29/2007      10/26/2010      10/29/2014
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 252 

Reissue Applications Filed
                          Reissue Applications Filed

   Notice under 37 CFR 1.11(b). The reissue applications listed below
are open to public inspection by the general public through the Image
File Wrapper (IFW) system (http://portal.uspto.gov/external/portal/pair)
on the USPTO internet web site (www.uspto.gov), and copies may be obtained
by paying the fee therefor (37 CFR 1.19).

   5,852,651, Re. S.N. 14/494,121, Sep. 23, 2014, Cl. 379/056, CELLULAR
COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM WITH SECTORIZATION, Larry G. Fischer, et al.,
Owner of Record: ADC Telecommunications, Inc., Shakopee, MN, Attorney or
Agent: Jay Wahlquist, Ex. Gp.: 2649

   6,544,120, Re. S.N. 14/515,490, Oct. 15, 2014, Cl. 463/020, GAMING
MACHINE, Leonard H. Ainsworth, Owner of Record: Ainsworth Game Technology,
Newington, AU, Attorney or Agent: Paul C. Craane, Ex. Gp.: 3714

   7,240,846, Re. S.N. 14/505,994, Oct. 03, 2014, Cl. 235, IC CHIP AND
INFORMATION PROCESSING TERMINAL, Shigeru Arisawa, et al, Owner of Record:
SONY CORPORATION, Tokyo, Japan, Attorney or Agent: Christopher M. Tobin,
Ex. Gp.: 2876

   7,381,649, Re. S.N: 14/466,636, Aug. 22, 2014, CL: 438, STRUCTURE
FOR A MULITIPLE-GATE FET DEVICE AND A METHOD FOR ITS FABRICATION,
HUNG-Wei CHEN, et.al, Owner of Record: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Company, Ltd.4., Attorney or Agent: Roger C. Knapp, Ex. GP.: 2823

   7,565,167, Re. S.N. 14/486,511, Sep. 15, 2014, Cl. 455/550.100,
LOW-COST NETWORK SYSTEM BETWEEN A BASE STATION CONTROLLER AND A BASE
TRANSCEIVER STATION, AND METHOD FOR TRANSMITTING DATA BETWEEN THEM,
Kyeong-Soo Lee, et al., Owner of Record: KT Corporation, Seongnam-si,
Gyeonggi-do, KR, Attorney or Agent: David Lee, Ex. Gp.: 2642

   7,769,646, Re. S.N: 14/325,207, Jul. 07, 2014, CL: 705, EFFICIENT WORK
FLOW SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING TAXPAYER SOURCE DOCUMENTS,
David A. WYLE, Owner of Record: SurePrep, LLC, Attorney or Agent:
John H. Platt, Ex. GP.: 3687

   8,154,921, Re. S.N.: 14/231,564, Mar. 31, 2014, Cl.: 365, DYNAMIC
AND ADAPTIVE OPTIMIZATION OF READ COMPARE LEVELS BASED ON MEMORY CELL
THRESHOLD VOLTAGE DISTRIBUTION, Nima Mokhlesi, et al, Owner of Record:
Sandisk Technologies Inc., Attorney or Agent: Tyler Thorp, Ex. Gp.: 2827

   8,168,820, Re. S.N: 14/464,444, Aug. 20, 2014, CL: 562, DEUTERATED
CATECHOLAMINE DERIVATIVES AND MEDICAMENTS COMPROMISING SAID COMPOUNDS,
Rudolf-Giesbert Alken, Owner of Record: BDD Berolina Drug Development GMBH,
Attorney or Agent: Dennis A. Bennett, Ex. GP.: 1621

   8,174,895, Re. S.N.: 14/231,585, Mar. 31, 2014, Cl.: 365, PROGRAMMING
NON-VOLATILE STORAGE WITH FAST BIT DETECTION AND VERIFY SKIP, Changyuan
Chen, et al, Owner of Record: Sandisk Technologies Inc., Attorney or
Agent: Tyler Thorp, Ex. Gp.: 2827

   8,248,961, Re. S.N: 14/464,641, Aug. 20, 2014, CL: 370, COMMUNICATION
APPARATUS AND COMMUNICATION LAYER ROLE DECIDING METHOD, Kenichi FUJII,
Owner of Record: Canon Kabushiki Kaisha, Attorney or Agent: Michael
Nornberg, Ex. GP.: 2714

   8,258,186, Re. S.N: 14/458,919, Aug. 13, 2014, CL: 514, PHARMACEUTICAL
FOR ORAL DELIVERY COMPRISING MGBG AND METHODS OF TREATING DISEASE,
John Mckearn, et. al., Owner of Record: Pathologica LLC, Attorney or Agent:
Cynthia Hathaway, Ex. GP.: 1629

   8,289,494, Re. S.N. 14/515,011, Oct. 15, 2014, Cl. 349/193,
BIREFRINGENT POLYMER FILM WITH NEGATIVE OPTICAL DISPERSION, Owain Llyr
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 253 

Parri, et al., Owner of Record: Merck Patent GMBH, Darmstadt, DE,
Attorney or Agent: Harry Shubin, Ex. Gp.: 2871

   8,292,027, Re. S.N. 14/515,267, Oct. 15, 2014, Cl. 181/294, COMPOSITE
LAMINATE FOR A THERMAL AND ACOUSTIC INSULATION BLANKET, Llewellyn Bentley
Richardson III, et al., Owner of Record: E I Du Pond De Nemours and
Company, Wilmington, DE, Attorney or Agent: Steven C. Benjamin,
Ex. Gp.: 2837

   8,293,931, Re. S.N. 14/521,774, Oct. 23, 2014, Cl. 552, 7-N-SUBSTITUTED
PHENYL TETRACYCLINE COMPOUNDS, Mark L. Nelson, et al, Owner of Record:
Trustees of Tufts College, Boston, MA, Attorney or Agent: Dana M. Gordon,
Ex. Gp.: 1628

   8,295,091, Re. S.N. 14/522,209, Oct. 23, 2014, Cl. 365/185, NONVOLATILE
SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE, Kiyotaro Itagaki, et al., Owner of Record:
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba, Tokyo, JP, Attorney or Agent: Ronald Rudder,
Ex. Gp.: 2827

   8,301,975, Re. S.N. 14/527,483, Oct. 29, 2014, Cl. 714/758, STRUCTURED
LOW-DENSITY PARITY-CHECK (LDPC) CODE, Michael Livshitz, et al., Owner of
Record: BlackBerry Limited, Waterloo, CA, Attorney or Agent: Michael E.
Cox, Ex. Gp.: 2112

   8,320,182, Re. S.N: 14/335,639, Jul. 18, 2014, CL: 365, NONVOLATILE
SEMICONDUCTOR MEMORY DEVICE, Ryouhei KIRISAWA, Owner of Record: Kabushiki
Kaisha Toshiba, Attorney or Agent: Eckhard H. Kuesters, Ex. GP.: 2824

   8,408,546, Re. S.N. 14/242,438, Apr. 01, 2014, Cl. 273/142, METHOD OF
ASSIGNING A TEMPORARY BANKER FOR A GAME OF CHANCE, Mark Hamilton Jones,
Owner of Record: INAG, Inc., Paradise, CA, Attorney or Agent: John S. Artz,
Ex. Gp.: 3711

   8,456,592, Re. S.N. 14/481,423, Sep. 09, 2014, Cl. 349/065, BACKLIGHT
UNIT AND LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY INCLUDING THE SAME, Wangseop Go, et al.,
Owner of Record: LG Electronics Inc., Seoul, KR, Attorney or Agent:
Paul H. Kang, Ex. Gp.: 2871

   8,485,383, Re. S.N: 14/313,658, Jun. 24, 2014, CL: 220, CONTAINER FOR
HOLDING FOODS AND DRINKS, Edward L. Taufer, Owner of Record: Edward L.
Taufer, Attorney or Agent: Paul A. Taufer, Ex. GP.: 3781

   8,660,888, Re. S.N. 14/516,353, Oct. 16, 2014, Cl. 705/037, SYSTEM,
COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM
TO DETERMINE RELATIVE MARKET VALUE OF A SALE GROUP OF LIVESTOCK BASED ON
GENETIC MERIT AND OTHER NON-GENETIC FACTORS, Leland Leachman, et al.,
Owner of Record: Leachman Cattle of Colorado, LLC, Fort Collins, CO,
Attorney or Agent: Jeffrey S. Whittle, Ex. Gp.: 3693

   8,725,557, Re. S.N. 14/516,372, Oct. 16, 2014, Cl. 705/007, SYSTEM,
COMPUTER-IMPLEMENTED METHOD, AND NON-TRANSITORY, COMPUTER-READABLE MEDIUM
TO DETERMINE RELATIVE MARKET VALUE OF A SALE GROUP OF LIVESTOCK BASED ON
GENETIC MERIT AND OTHER NON-GENETIC FACTORS, Leland Leachman, et al.,
Owner of Record: Leachman Cattle of Colorado, LLC, Fort Collins, CO,
Attorney or Agent: Jeffrey S. Whittle, Ex. Gp.: 3623
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 254 

Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination Filed
                  Requests for Ex Parte Reexamination Filed

   6,702,719, Reexam. C.N. 90/013,350, Requested Date: Sep. 23, 2014,
Cl. 482/008, Title: EXERCISE MACHINE, Inventor: Michael Wayne Brown et al.,
Owners of Record: Icon Health & Fitness, Inc., Logan, UT, Attorney or
Agent: Maschoff Brennan, Park City, UT, Ex. Gp.: 3993, Requester: PATENT
OWNER

   6,955,680, Reexam. C.N. 90/013,343, Requested Date: Sep. 25, 2014,
Cl. 606/169, Title: COUPLING VIBRATION ULTRASONIC HAND PIECE, Inventor:
Yuichirou Satou et al., Owners of Record: Stryker Corporation, Kalamazoo,
MI, Attorney or Agent: Stryker Corporation, Kalamazoo, MI, Ex. Gp.: 3993,
Requester: Jason D. Voight, Washington, DC

   8,777,786, Reexam. C.N. 90/013,349, Requested Date: Sep. 22, 2014,
Cl. 473/578, Title: LIGHTED NOCK, Inventor: Larry R. Bay, Owners of
Record: Clean-Shot Archery, Inc., Kent, WA, Attorney or Agent: Skaar
Ulbrich Macari, PA., Minneapolis, MN, Ex. Gp.: 3993, Requester:
Sergey Vernyuk, Emerson Thomson & Bennet, LLC., Akron, OH
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 255 

Notice of Expiration of Trademark Registrations Due to Failure to Renew
                Notice of Expiration of Trademark Registrations
                            Due to Failure to Renew

   15 U.S.C. 1059 provides that each trademark registration may be
renewed for periods of ten years from the end of the expiring period
upon payment of the prescribed fee and the filing of an acceptable
application for renewal. This may be done at any time within one year
before the expiration of the period for which the registration was
issued or renewed, or it may be done within six months after such
expiration on payment of an additional fee.
   According to the records of the Office, the trademark registrations
listed below are expired due to failure to renew in accordance with 15
U.S.C. 1059.

                     TRADEMARK REGISTRATIONS WHICH EXPIRED
                                October 31, 2014
                            DUE TO FAILURE TO RENEW

Reg. Number                     Serial Number                     Reg. Date

1,828,157                        74/402,640                      03/29/1994
2,827,022                        76/429,347                      03/30/2004
2,827,540                        76/517,049                      03/30/2004
3,196,923                        79/008,423                      01/09/2007
3,401,956                        79/008,676                      03/25/2008
3,401,957                        79/010,678                      03/25/2008
3,401,958                        79/014,553                      03/25/2008
3,401,959                        79/015,737                      03/25/2008
3,401,961                        79/016,319                      03/25/2008
3,401,962                        79/016,382                      03/25/2008
3,401,963                        79/016,680                      03/25/2008
3,401,964                        79/018,606                      03/25/2008
3,401,965                        79/018,881                      03/25/2008
3,401,966                        79/018,910                      03/25/2008
3,401,967                        79/020,731                      03/25/2008
3,401,969                        79/020,746                      03/25/2008
3,401,971                        79/020,939                      03/25/2008
3,401,973                        79/022,292                      03/25/2008
3,401,974                        79/022,370                      03/25/2008
3,401,977                        79/023,752                      03/25/2008
3,401,978                        79/023,753                      03/25/2008
3,401,979                        79/023,755                      03/25/2008
3,401,981                        79/024,282                      03/25/2008
3,401,983                        79/024,794                      03/25/2008
3,401,984                        79/024,929                      03/25/2008
3,401,986                        79/025,392                      03/25/2008
3,401,989                        79/025,997                      03/25/2008
3,401,990                        79/026,022                      03/25/2008
3,401,991                        79/026,090                      03/25/2008
3,401,993                        79/026,180                      03/25/2008
3,401,995                        79/026,896                      03/25/2008
3,401,996                        79/027,037                      03/25/2008
3,401,997                        79/027,126                      03/25/2008
3,401,998                        79/027,204                      03/25/2008
3,402,000                        79/027,961                      03/25/2008
3,402,001                        79/028,020                      03/25/2008
3,402,003                        79/028,038                      03/25/2008
3,402,004                        79/028,212                      03/25/2008
3,402,005                        79/028,606                      03/25/2008
3,402,010                        79/029,202                      03/25/2008
3,402,011                        79/029,210                      03/25/2008
3,402,015                        79/029,732                      03/25/2008
3,402,017                        79/030,333                      03/25/2008
3,402,019                        79/030,498                      03/25/2008
3,402,020                        79/030,565                      03/25/2008
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 256 

3,402,021                        79/030,638                      03/25/2008
3,402,022                        79/030,755                      03/25/2008
3,402,023                        79/031,143                      03/25/2008
3,402,026                        79/031,256                      03/25/2008
3,402,028                        79/031,407                      03/25/2008
3,402,029                        79/031,565                      03/25/2008
3,402,030                        79/031,566                      03/25/2008
3,402,031                        79/031,746                      03/25/2008
3,402,033                        79/032,283                      03/25/2008
3,402,034                        79/032,367                      03/25/2008
3,402,036                        79/032,682                      03/25/2008
3,402,037                        79/032,686                      03/25/2008
3,402,040                        79/032,870                      03/25/2008
3,402,041                        79/032,915                      03/25/2008
3,402,043                        79/033,142                      03/25/2008
3,402,044                        79/033,204                      03/25/2008
3,402,046                        79/033,356                      03/25/2008
3,402,052                        79/033,872                      03/25/2008
3,402,055                        79/034,015                      03/25/2008
3,402,056                        79/034,088                      03/25/2008
3,402,057                        79/034,297                      03/25/2008
3,402,058                        79/034,337                      03/25/2008
3,402,062                        79/034,503                      03/25/2008
3,402,063                        79/034,522                      03/25/2008
3,402,064                        79/034,536                      03/25/2008
3,402,065                        79/034,570                      03/25/2008
3,402,070                        79/034,847                      03/25/2008
3,402,071                        79/034,884                      03/25/2008
3,402,072                        79/034,900                      03/25/2008
3,402,073                        79/034,929                      03/25/2008
3,402,074                        79/034,988                      03/25/2008
3,402,075                        79/035,001                      03/25/2008
3,402,076                        79/035,013                      03/25/2008
3,402,077                        79/035,057                      03/25/2008
3,402,078                        79/035,094                      03/25/2008
3,402,079                        79/035,156                      03/25/2008
3,402,082                        79/035,361                      03/25/2008
3,402,086                        79/035,496                      03/25/2008
3,402,087                        79/035,548                      03/25/2008
3,402,088                        79/035,553                      03/25/2008
3,402,092                        79/036,011                      03/25/2008
3,402,093                        79/036,024                      03/25/2008
3,402,094                        79/036,323                      03/25/2008
3,402,095                        79/036,363                      03/25/2008
3,402,097                        79/036,467                      03/25/2008
3,402,098                        79/036,477                      03/25/2008
3,402,099                        79/036,492                      03/25/2008
3,402,104                        79/036,963                      03/25/2008
3,402,105                        79/037,026                      03/25/2008
3,402,108                        79/037,136                      03/25/2008
3,402,109                        79/037,142                      03/25/2008
3,402,110                        79/037,265                      03/25/2008
3,402,111                        79/037,320                      03/25/2008
3,402,112                        79/037,433                      03/25/2008
3,402,113                        79/037,560                      03/25/2008
3,402,115                        79/037,617                      03/25/2008
3,402,116                        79/037,754                      03/25/2008
3,402,117                        79/037,884                      03/25/2008
3,402,118                        79/037,929                      03/25/2008
3,402,120                        79/038,093                      03/25/2008
3,402,121                        79/038,094                      03/25/2008
3,402,123                        79/038,511                      03/25/2008
3,402,124                        79/038,648                      03/25/2008
3,402,128                        79/038,985                      03/25/2008
3,402,129                        79/039,128                      03/25/2008
3,402,130                        79/039,209                      03/25/2008
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 257 

3,402,131                        79/039,374                      03/25/2008
3,402,133                        79/039,497                      03/25/2008
3,402,134                        79/039,647                      03/25/2008
3,402,136                        79/039,858                      03/25/2008
3,402,137                        79/039,877                      03/25/2008
3,402,138                        79/040,000                      03/25/2008
3,402,140                        79/040,264                      03/25/2008
3,402,141                        79/040,286                      03/25/2008
3,402,142                        79/040,421                      03/25/2008
3,402,144                        79/040,460                      03/25/2008
3,402,146                        79/040,510                      03/25/2008
3,402,147                        79/040,634                      03/25/2008
3,402,148                        79/040,675                      03/25/2008
3,402,149                        79/040,724                      03/25/2008
3,402,150                        79/040,860                      03/25/2008
3,402,151                        79/040,870                      03/25/2008
3,402,153                        79/040,998                      03/25/2008
3,402,154                        79/041,001                      03/25/2008
3,402,155                        79/041,007                      03/25/2008
3,402,159                        79/041,195                      03/25/2008
3,402,160                        79/041,260                      03/25/2008
3,402,162                        79/041,334                      03/25/2008
3,402,163                        79/041,501                      03/25/2008
3,402,164                        79/041,566                      03/25/2008
3,402,167                        79/041,701                      03/25/2008
3,402,170                        79/041,818                      03/25/2008
3,402,172                        79/042,451                      03/25/2008
3,402,173                        79/042,620                      03/25/2008
3,402,174                        79/042,685                      03/25/2008
3,402,175                        79/042,686                      03/25/2008
3,402,178                        79/043,057                      03/25/2008
3,402,181                        79/043,758                      03/25/2008
3,402,183                        79/043,816                      03/25/2008
3,402,184                        79/043,912                      03/25/2008
3,402,185                        79/043,942                      03/25/2008
3,402,189                        79/044,344                      03/25/2008
3,759,624                        79/975,102                      03/25/2008
  767,104                        72/166,775                      03/24/1964
1,271,433                        73/283,677                      03/27/1984
1,271,536                        73/385,090                      03/27/1984
1,828,082                        74/314,878                      03/29/1994
2,828,128                        75/465,610                      03/30/2004
2,828,132                        75/519,982                      03/30/2004
2,826,777                        75/622,885                      03/30/2004
2,826,782                        75/651,795                      03/30/2004
2,828,150                        75/757,358                      03/30/2004
2,828,156                        75/852,339                      03/30/2004
2,826,794                        75/882,835                      03/30/2004
2,828,651                        75/883,709                      03/30/2004
2,826,799                        75/914,758                      03/30/2004
2,826,801                        75/933,448                      03/30/2004
2,828,174                        76/004,815                      03/30/2004
2,828,653                        76/011,395                      03/30/2004
2,828,181                        76/022,037                      03/30/2004
2,828,182                        76/024,917                      03/30/2004
2,828,191                        76/058,994                      03/30/2004
2,828,193                        76/064,085                      03/30/2004
2,828,204                        76/098,473                      03/30/2004
2,828,209                        76/109,823                      03/30/2004
2,828,214                        76/128,110                      03/30/2004
2,828,217                        76/147,396                      03/30/2004
2,826,843                        76/177,186                      03/30/2004
2,828,235                        76/193,920                      03/30/2004
2,826,848                        76/196,604                      03/30/2004
2,828,660                        76/199,325                      03/30/2004
2,828,241                        76/211,745                      03/30/2004
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 258 

2,826,852                        76/213,247                      03/30/2004
2,826,853                        76/213,332                      03/30/2004
2,828,249                        76/225,375                      03/30/2004
2,828,252                        76/226,409                      03/30/2004
2,828,253                        76/226,412                      03/30/2004
2,828,257                        76/229,665                      03/30/2004
2,826,860                        76/233,381                      03/30/2004
2,826,861                        76/236,082                      03/30/2004
2,828,263                        76/236,223                      03/30/2004
2,828,268                        76/246,050                      03/30/2004
2,826,869                        76/264,691                      03/30/2004
2,828,277                        76/268,336                      03/30/2004
2,828,282                        76/283,059                      03/30/2004
2,828,667                        76/289,866                      03/30/2004
2,828,283                        76/292,972                      03/30/2004
2,828,285                        76/296,256                      03/30/2004
2,826,888                        76/306,667                      03/30/2004
2,828,294                        76/310,575                      03/30/2004
2,828,296                        76/316,518                      03/30/2004
2,828,303                        76/328,562                      03/30/2004
2,828,314                        76/346,023                      03/30/2004
2,828,320                        76/354,601                      03/30/2004
2,826,913                        76/356,082                      03/30/2004
2,828,673                        76/356,970                      03/30/2004
2,828,326                        76/360,154                      03/30/2004
2,826,920                        76/376,447                      03/30/2004
2,826,921                        76/377,966                      03/30/2004
2,828,677                        76/380,658                      03/30/2004
2,828,358                        76/388,064                      03/30/2004
2,828,362                        76/396,146                      03/30/2004
2,826,949                        76/399,689                      03/30/2004
2,828,373                        76/411,921                      03/30/2004
2,828,375                        76/412,964                      03/30/2004
2,826,989                        76/416,428                      03/30/2004
2,826,990                        76/416,501                      03/30/2004
2,826,993                        76/418,634                      03/30/2004
2,828,388                        76/424,953                      03/30/2004
2,827,010                        76/426,077                      03/30/2004
2,828,389                        76/426,578                      03/30/2004
2,827,024                        76/429,716                      03/30/2004
2,827,025                        76/429,718                      03/30/2004
2,828,398                        76/432,769                      03/30/2004
2,828,399                        76/434,010                      03/30/2004
2,828,400                        76/435,414                      03/30/2004
2,827,042                        76/435,465                      03/30/2004
2,827,049                        76/437,320                      03/30/2004
2,827,090                        76/445,768                      03/30/2004
2,827,092                        76/445,957                      03/30/2004
2,828,428                        76/447,605                      03/30/2004
2,827,105                        76/449,168                      03/30/2004
2,827,114                        76/450,281                      03/30/2004
2,827,128                        76/453,040                      03/30/2004
2,827,147                        76/455,176                      03/30/2004
2,827,149                        76/455,426                      03/30/2004
2,827,153                        76/456,034                      03/30/2004
2,827,161                        76/456,739                      03/30/2004
2,828,441                        76/457,360                      03/30/2004
2,828,442                        76/457,370                      03/30/2004
2,827,178                        76/458,622                      03/30/2004
2,827,179                        76/458,634                      03/30/2004
2,828,445                        76/460,137                      03/30/2004
2,827,188                        76/460,479                      03/30/2004
2,827,203                        76/462,642                      03/30/2004
2,827,206                        76/463,119                      03/30/2004
2,827,218                        76/464,323                      03/30/2004
2,827,231                        76/465,062                      03/30/2004
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 259 

2,828,688                        76/466,887                      03/30/2004
2,828,689                        76/466,888                      03/30/2004
2,828,690                        76/466,891                      03/30/2004
2,828,691                        76/466,892                      03/30/2004
2,828,692                        76/466,893                      03/30/2004
2,828,693                        76/466,895                      03/30/2004
2,827,250                        76/467,235                      03/30/2004
2,827,257                        76/467,826                      03/30/2004
2,827,269                        76/468,910                      03/30/2004
2,827,274                        76/469,392                      03/30/2004
2,827,279                        76/470,779                      03/30/2004
2,827,285                        76/471,522                      03/30/2004
2,827,286                        76/471,633                      03/30/2004
2,827,300                        76/473,307                      03/30/2004
2,827,315                        76/476,318                      03/30/2004
2,827,317                        76/476,337                      03/30/2004
2,828,460                        76/478,560                      03/30/2004
2,828,461                        76/478,632                      03/30/2004
2,827,329                        76/478,699                      03/30/2004
2,827,332                        76/479,045                      03/30/2004
2,827,357                        76/487,756                      03/30/2004
2,827,360                        76/488,238                      03/30/2004
2,827,363                        76/489,672                      03/30/2004
2,827,364                        76/489,762                      03/30/2004
2,827,371                        76/492,340                      03/30/2004
2,827,373                        76/492,780                      03/30/2004
2,827,398                        76/500,213                      03/30/2004
2,828,699                        76/502,082                      03/30/2004
2,827,412                        76/502,823                      03/30/2004
2,827,415                        76/502,946                      03/30/2004
2,827,418                        76/503,104                      03/30/2004
2,827,420                        76/503,106                      03/30/2004
2,827,422                        76/503,254                      03/30/2004
2,827,425                        76/504,038                      03/30/2004
2,827,430                        76/504,919                      03/30/2004
2,827,431                        76/505,119                      03/30/2004
2,827,434                        76/505,510                      03/30/2004
2,827,439                        76/506,098                      03/30/2004
2,828,700                        76/508,797                      03/30/2004
2,827,459                        76/509,016                      03/30/2004
2,827,461                        76/509,292                      03/30/2004
2,827,462                        76/509,335                      03/30/2004
2,827,463                        76/509,338                      03/30/2004
2,827,464                        76/509,341                      03/30/2004
2,827,465                        76/509,342                      03/30/2004
2,827,466                        76/509,343                      03/30/2004
2,827,473                        76/509,875                      03/30/2004
2,827,489                        76/511,843                      03/30/2004
2,827,496                        76/512,791                      03/30/2004
2,827,497                        76/512,873                      03/30/2004
2,827,498                        76/512,926                      03/30/2004
2,827,499                        76/512,927                      03/30/2004
2,827,514                        76/513,650                      03/30/2004
2,827,521                        76/514,940                      03/30/2004
2,827,545                        76/518,474                      03/30/2004
2,827,546                        76/518,493                      03/30/2004
2,827,548                        76/518,840                      03/30/2004
2,827,555                        76/520,631                      03/30/2004
2,827,556                        76/520,632                      03/30/2004
2,827,557                        76/520,633                      03/30/2004
2,827,565                        76/975,403                      03/30/2004
2,828,467                        76/975,929                      03/30/2004
2,828,704                        76/976,071                      03/30/2004
2,828,470                        76/976,312                      03/30/2004
2,827,575                        76/976,433                      03/30/2004
2,827,580                        78/026,838                      03/30/2004
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 260 

2,827,585                        78/039,558                      03/30/2004
2,828,482                        78/051,960                      03/30/2004
2,828,483                        78/052,498                      03/30/2004
2,827,592                        78/054,807                      03/30/2004
2,828,493                        78/080,356                      03/30/2004
2,828,498                        78/083,107                      03/30/2004
2,827,602                        78/086,476                      03/30/2004
2,828,503                        78/087,066                      03/30/2004
2,827,610                        78/097,484                      03/30/2004
2,828,514                        78/097,905                      03/30/2004
2,828,516                        78/099,013                      03/30/2004
2,828,517                        78/099,015                      03/30/2004
2,828,522                        78/101,404                      03/30/2004
2,827,634                        78/114,996                      03/30/2004
2,827,642                        78/120,830                      03/30/2004
2,828,545                        78/121,111                      03/30/2004
2,827,651                        78/123,564                      03/30/2004
2,827,658                        78/126,958                      03/30/2004
2,828,550                        78/131,584                      03/30/2004
2,827,682                        78/134,446                      03/30/2004
2,827,685                        78/135,648                      03/30/2004
2,828,565                        78/142,822                      03/30/2004
2,827,704                        78/143,463                      03/30/2004
2,828,568                        78/143,726                      03/30/2004
2,828,570                        78/146,972                      03/30/2004
2,827,709                        78/147,411                      03/30/2004
2,827,713                        78/148,308                      03/30/2004
2,828,582                        78/151,969                      03/30/2004
2,827,723                        78/152,293                      03/30/2004
2,827,724                        78/152,344                      03/30/2004
2,827,728                        78/153,184                      03/30/2004
2,827,731                        78/154,014                      03/30/2004
2,827,740                        78/157,386                      03/30/2004
2,827,741                        78/157,442                      03/30/2004
2,828,592                        78/158,410                      03/30/2004
2,828,712                        78/161,555                      03/30/2004
2,827,753                        78/161,871                      03/30/2004
2,827,755                        78/162,508                      03/30/2004
2,827,772                        78/168,281                      03/30/2004
2,827,778                        78/169,750                      03/30/2004
2,827,781                        78/171,039                      03/30/2004
2,827,788                        78/171,970                      03/30/2004
2,827,798                        78/173,516                      03/30/2004
2,827,800                        78/173,680                      03/30/2004
2,828,610                        78/174,774                      03/30/2004
2,827,830                        78/179,727                      03/30/2004
2,828,616                        78/182,205                      03/30/2004
2,827,844                        78/182,597                      03/30/2004
2,828,620                        78/186,500                      03/30/2004
2,827,856                        78/187,921                      03/30/2004
2,828,718                        78/191,778                      03/30/2004
2,827,869                        78/193,075                      03/30/2004
2,827,881                        78/197,071                      03/30/2004
2,827,889                        78/200,369                      03/30/2004
2,827,891                        78/200,984                      03/30/2004
2,827,892                        78/200,985                      03/30/2004
2,827,893                        78/201,173                      03/30/2004
2,828,635                        78/204,891                      03/30/2004
2,827,906                        78/206,353                      03/30/2004
2,827,914                        78/210,968                      03/30/2004
2,827,916                        78/211,221                      03/30/2004
2,827,925                        78/214,150                      03/30/2004
2,827,935                        78/217,710                      03/30/2004
2,827,951                        78/222,926                      03/30/2004
2,827,952                        78/223,014                      03/30/2004
2,827,954                        78/223,614                      03/30/2004
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 261 

2,827,956                        78/224,156                      03/30/2004
2,827,966                        78/226,397                      03/30/2004
2,827,985                        78/231,305                      03/30/2004
2,827,988                        78/231,879                      03/30/2004
2,827,997                        78/233,019                      03/30/2004
2,828,017                        78/236,745                      03/30/2004
2,828,025                        78/238,342                      03/30/2004
2,828,040                        78/241,575                      03/30/2004
2,828,048                        78/242,916                      03/30/2004
2,828,058                        78/244,353                      03/30/2004
2,828,068                        78/247,296                      03/30/2004
2,828,073                        78/248,596                      03/30/2004
2,828,074                        78/248,622                      03/30/2004
2,828,075                        78/248,623                      03/30/2004
2,828,076                        78/248,636                      03/30/2004
2,828,077                        78/248,654                      03/30/2004
2,828,078                        78/248,670                      03/30/2004
2,828,079                        78/248,890                      03/30/2004
2,828,083                        78/249,214                      03/30/2004
2,828,089                        78/249,997                      03/30/2004
2,828,091                        78/250,156                      03/30/2004
2,828,093                        78/250,344                      03/30/2004
2,828,101                        78/251,745                      03/30/2004
2,828,102                        78/251,869                      03/30/2004
2,828,105                        78/253,178                      03/30/2004
2,828,118                        78/263,902                      03/30/2004
   93,158                        71/070,741                      08/26/1913
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 262 

37 CFR 1.47 Notice by Publication
                       37 CFR 1.47 Notice by Publication

   Notice is hereby given of the filing of an application with a petition
under 37 CFR 1.47 requesting acceptance of the application without the
signature of all inventors. The petition has been granted. A notice has
been sent to the last known address of the non-signing inventor. The
inventor whose signature is missing (Erdinc OZTURK) may join in the
application by promptly filing an appropriate oath or declaration complying
with 37 CFR 1.63. The international application number is PCT/US2011/063328
and was filed 05 December 2011 in the names of Erdinc OZTURK, Vindoh GOPAL,
Gilbert M. WOLRICH, Wajda K. FEGHALI, James D. GUILFORD, Deniz KARAKOYUNLU,
Martin G. DIXON, and Kahraman D. AKDEMIR, for the invention EFFICIENT
MULTIPLICATION, EXPONENTIATION AND MODULAR REDUCTION IMPLEMENTATIONS. The
national stage application number is 13/994,782 and has a 35 U.S.C.
371(c)(1), (c)(2) and (c)(4) date of 26 June 2014.


                       37 CFR 1.47 Notice by Publication

   Notice is hereby given of the filing of an application with a petition
under 37 CFR 1.47 requesting acceptance of the application without the
signature of the inventor. The petition has been granted. A notice has
been sent to the last known address of the non-signing inventor. The
inventor whose signature is missing (Neil Marshall) may join in the
application by promptly filing an appropriate oath or declaration complying
with 37 CFR 1.63. The international application number is PCT/EP2012/002827
and was filed on 05 July 2012 in the name of Neil Marshall for the
invention entitled "SYSTEM COMPRISING A CONTAINER FOR A LIQUID AND AN
INSERT". The national stage application number is 14/122,544 and has a date
of 29 September 2014 under 35 U.S.C. 371(c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(4).


                       37 CFR 1.47 Notice by Publication

   Notice is hereby given of the filing of an application with a petition
under 37 CFR 1.47 requesting acceptance of the application without the
signatures of two of the joint inventors. The petition has been granted. A
notice has been sent to the last known addresses of the non-signing
inventors. The inventors whose signatures are missing (David Mayer and
Timothy McDonald) may join in the application by promptly filing an
appropriate oath or declaration complying with 37 CFR 1.63. The
international application number is PCT/US2011/060772 and was filed on 15
November 2011 in the name of David Mayer et al for the invention entitled
"SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR EDUCATION THROUGH PATIENT SAFETY EVENT REPORTING".
The national stage application number is 13/885,108 and has a date of 05
June 2014 under 35 U.S.C. 371(c)(1), (c)(2), and (c)(4).


                       37 CFR 1.47 Notice of Publication

   Notice is hereby given of the filing of an application with a petition
under 37 CFR 1.47 requesting acceptance of the application without the
signature of the inventor. The petition has been granted. A notice has been
sent to the last known address of the non-signing inventor, Denise KELLY.
The inventor whose signature is missing may join in the application by
promptly filing an appropriate oath or declaration complying with 37 CFR
1.63. The international application number is PCT/GB2012/051686 and was
filed 13 July 2012 in the name of Denise KELLY for the invention entitled
BACTERIAL STRAINS ISOLATED FROM PIGS. The national stage number is
14/232,475 and has a 35 U.S.C. 371(c) date of 17 October 2014.


                       37 CFR 1.47 Notice of Publication

   Notice is hereby given of the filing of a national stage application
with a petition under 37 CFR 1.47 requesting acceptance of the application
without the signature of all inventors. The petition has been granted. A
notice has been sent to the last known address of the non-signing inventor.
The inventor whose signature is missing (Gerald Lou Corum) may join in the
application by promptly filing an appropriate oath or declaration complying
with 37 CFR 1.63. The international application number is PCT/US2012/028820
and was filed on 12 March 2012 in the names of Janis Zakis, Daniel Clay
Voit and Gerald Lou Corum entitled MULTI-SURFACE HEAT EXCHANGE WITH VACUUM
CAPABILITY AND MAGNETIC SCRAPERS. The national stage application is
assigned number 14/004,638 and has a 35 U.S.C. 371(c) date of 03 July 2014.
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 263 

Registration to Practice
                            Registration to Practice

   The following list contains the names of persons seeking for
registration to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark
Office. Final approval for registration is subject to establishing to the
satisfaction of the Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline
that the person seeking registration is of good moral character and repute.
37 CFR § 11.7 Accordingly, any information tending to affect the
eligibility of any of the following persons on moral ethical or other
grounds should be furnished to the Director of Enrollment and Discipline on
or before December 12, 2014 at the following address: Mail Stop OED
United States Patent and Trademark Office P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria VA 22314

Ahn, Hyungsoo, 861 Ridgewater Drive, Chula Vista, CA 91913

Ahn, Sejin Quinn, McKenna Long & Aldridge, 4435 Eastgate Mall, Suite 400,
San Diego, CA 92121

Chang, Hsun-Hsien, 77 Pond Avenue, Apartment 804, Brookline, MA 02445

Davies, Christopher Jeffrey, 55 Littleton Road 17E, Ayer, MA 01432-1776

Haadee, Jameelah Iman, Patterson Thuente, P.A., 431 South 7th Street,
Unit 2634, Minneapolis, MN 55415

Letourneau, Guy Louis, 56930 South Morse Road, Warren, OR 97053

Levitt, Andrew Eric, 2106 East Mockingbird Lane, Midland, MI 48642

Lim, Hyesuk, Lowe Hauptman & Ham, LLP, 2318 Mill Road, Suite 1400,
Alexandria, VA 22314

McLean, Meghan Meredith, 2016 Pepper Way, San Jose, CA 95133

Meeker, Charles Ashley, Workman Nydegger, 60 E. South Temple, Suite 1000,
Salt Lake City, UT 84111

Messina, Christopher James, 108-37 71st Avenue, Apartment 10J,
Forest Hills, NY 11375

Morgan, Max Scott, Volpe and Koenig, P.C., 30 S. 17th Street, Philadelphia,
PA 19103-4009

Rutherford, Jay William, Snow Crest Chemicals, 2500 Klondike Court,
Missoula, MT 59808

Sand, Callie Jenna, Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear, 2040 Main Street,
14th Floor, Irvine, CA 92614

Smiley, Beth Louise, 6 Clarence Road, Wayland, MA 01778

Sole, Laura Brianne, 9428 Colonade Drive, Vienna, VA 22181

Vezeris, James A., 180 Washington Street Apt. 3, Jersey City, NJ 07302

Weiner, Ethan Mark, 2525 Stuart Street. Apt. 302, Berkeley, CA 94705

Wong, Richard Ling-Yuen, Fish & Richardson P.C., 601 Lexington Avenue,
52nd Floor, New York, NY 10022

October 29, 2014                                           WILLIAM R. COVEY
                   Deputy General Counsel for Enrollment and Discipline and
                        Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 264 

Patent Public Advisory Committee Annual Report 2014
United States Patent and Trademark Office
United States Patent and Trademark Office

PATENT PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE OF THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

November 3, 2014
Voting Committee Members:

Louis J. Foreman
Chairman
Enventys / Edison Nation

Esther M. Kepplinger
Vice Chair
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Wayne P. Sobon
Inventergy

Clinton Hallman
Kraft Foods

Valerie McDevitt
University of South Florida

Marylee Jenkins
Arent Foxx LLP

Christal A. Sheppard
University of Nebraska

Peter Thurlow
Jones Day

Paul Jacobs
Jake Technology, Inc.

Non-voting Representatives:

Robert D. Budens
President
Patent Office Professional
Association (POPA)

Vernon Ako Towler
Vice President
National Treasury Employees
Union (NTEU, Local 243)

Catherine Faint
Vice President
National Treasury Employees
Union (NTEU, Local 245)



The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 10500-0001



Dear Mr. President:

        It is my pleasure and privilege to present you with the 2014 Annual Report of the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Fiscal Year 2014 was another year of great change and progress at the USPTO, including the appointment in January 2014 of Michelle Lee as Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office. We congratulate you on your decision to nominate Ms. Lee to be Director of the USPTO as her continued leadership will provide stability and ensure continued progress through the remainder of your term.

For the USPTO, FY 2014 was a year of recovery from the budget cuts resulting from FY 2013 sequestration that forced delays to major initiatives. Access to fees in FY 2014, largely because of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), allowed the Agency to make excellent progress in a number of areas, including Information Technology (IT) infrastructure initiatives, hiring of patent examiners and judges, and ongoing efforts to reduce patent pendency and the application backlog.

Throughout the year, fees collected tracked above the appropriated level, with the Agency (Office) netting an excess of $129 million that became the first deposit into the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund (PTFRF) that was established by the AIA to ensure all fees paid by USPTO customers can be used by the Agency to cover operations and expenses. The Agency plans to submit a reprogramming notification for these funds that will allow it to access them. It is critical that the Agency be able to access all fees paid to it.

The PPAC supported FY 2013 fee increases to fund an operating reserve that would sustain USPTO funding and allow the Agency to make critical and long-overdue improvements to its IT infrastructure and hire the requisite number of examiners to meet pendency goals. The stable funding environment is now supporting the Agency as it prepares to institute a major new initiative called Building a World Class Patent Quality System. The new initiative has three supporting pillars: first, to provide the best work products and services at every stage of the patent process; second, to improve the customer experience with an emphasis on excellent customer service; and third, to engage the public in partnership to educate and seek input. The Agency will use a number of roadshows in early 2015 to educate stakeholders and the public about the initiative and gain support for it.

The linkage between IP and the U.S. economy is clear. For American innovation to continue to thrive, we must have a strong patent system that encourages innovation, attracts investors, grows our economy and creates good jobs. The ability to patent, and thereby protect an invention, is the necessary incentive for inventors and innovative companies to assume the financial risk and investment to bring new products and services to market. And, as you are well aware, a strong, technologically supported Agency is vital to its ability to provide timely high quality examinations of patent applications that result in strong patents being issued that support our economy and stimulate innovation around the world.

Thank you for taking the time to review this report. We welcome any questions you or your staff have about it.

         Respectfully,
signature Louis J. Foreman
Louis J. Foreman
Chairman
Patent Public Advisory Committee
United States Patent and Trademark Office
  

Enclosure: Patent Public Advisory Committee Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Report


cc: The Honorable Patrick J. Leahy, Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
   The Honorable Robert W. Goodlatte, Chairman, House Judiciary Committee
   The Honorable Charles E. Grassley, Ranking Minority Member, Senate Judiciary Committee
   The Honorable John Conyers, Jr., Ranking Minority Member, House Judiciary Committee
   The Honorable Howard Coble, Chairman, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
   The Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet
   The Honorable Penny Pritzker, Secretary of Commerce
   Michelle K. Lee, Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
   Margaret Focarino, Commissioner for Patents

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
  I.   INTRODUCTION
  II.   PPAC PROCESSES
    A. FINANCE
    B. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
    C. REQUESTS FOR CONTINUED EXAMINATION
    D. HUMAN CAPITAL
    E. PATENT QUALITY
    F. PATENT PENDENCY
    G. PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
    H. LEGISLATION
    I. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND WORK SHARING
    J. USPTO OUTREACH INITIATIVES
TOPICAL AREAS
  I.   FINANCE
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. SALARIES AND EXPENSES FUND
    C. THE PATENT AND TRADEMARK FEE RESERVE FUND
    D. BIENNIAL FEE REVIEW
    E. FISCAL YEAR 2014
    F. FISCAL YEAR 2015
    G. RECOMMENDATIONS
  II.   INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
    A. OVERVIEW
    B. MISSION OF THE OCIO AND STRATEGIC IT OBJECTIVES
    C. IT MODERNIZATION AT THE USPTO
    D. OCIO PROGRESS IN FY 2014
    E. RECOMMENDATIONS
  III.   REQUESTS FOR CONTINUED EXAMINATION
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. NEW INITIATIVES
    C. RECOMMENDATIONS
  IV.   HUMAN CAPITAL
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. EXAMINER HIRING AND RETENTION
    C. EFFECTS OF UNCERTAINTY VERSUS STABILITY IN BUDGETS ON HIRING
    D. INITIATIVES TO INCREASE EXAMINATION CAPACITY
    E. RECOMMENDATIONS
  V.   PATENT QUALITY
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. WORK PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
    C. CUSTOMER SERVICE/EXPERIENCE
    D. PUBLIC OUTREACH/EDUCATION
    E. RECOMMENDATIONS
  VI.   PATENT PENDENCY
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. DETERMINING OPTIMAL PENDENCY
    C. PENDENCY INITIATIVES
    D. RECOMMENDATIONS
  VII.   PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. BOARD STAFF
    C. BOARD STATISTICS
    D. AIA PROGRESS
    E. AIA ROUNDTABLES AND FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE
    F. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT
    G. RECOMMENDATIONS
  VIII.   LEGISLATION
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. WHITE HOUSE EXECUTIVE ACTIONS
    C. CONGRESSIONAL HEARING
    D. PENDING LEGISLATION
    E. RECOMMENDATIONS
  IX.   INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND WORK SHARING
    A. THE CREATION OF THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL PATENT COOPERATION
    B. SUBSTANTIVE PATENT LAW HARMONIZATION
    C. TECHNICAL AND PROCEDURAL HARMONIZATION: WORK SHARING AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION PROGRAMS
    D. RECOMMENDATIONS
  X.   USPTO OUTREACH INITIATIVES
    A. INTRODUCTION
    B. INVENTORS CONFERENCES AND WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYMPOSIUMS
    C. USPTO REGIONAL OFFICE OUTREACH
    D. SUPPORTING INVENTOR ORGANIZATIONS
    E. MINORITY/UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES
    F. PRO BONO PROGRAM AND BAR ASSOCIATION ENGAGEMENT
    G. TRAINING MATERIALS AND WEB-BASED SUPPORT
    H. IP ASSESSMENT TOOL/SMALL BUSINESS EDUCATION
    I. UNIVERSITY OUTREACH/TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
    J. MUSEUM OUTREACH
    K. PRO SE PILOT PROGRAM
    L. RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDIX
  LOUIS J. FOREMAN, CHAIRMAN
  ESTHER M. KEPPLINGER, VICE CHAIR
  WAYNE P. SOBON
  VALERIE LANDRIO MCDEVITT, J.D., MST
  CLINTON H. HALLMAN, JR.
  MARYLEE JENKINS
  A. CHRISTAL SHEPPARD, Ph.D., J.D.
  PETER THURLOW
  PAUL JACOBS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

I. INTRODUCTION

The Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC or Committee) thanks the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office), and in particular, Deputy Under Secretary Michelle Lee, for the assistance and positive atmosphere enabling our committee to interact effectively and efficiently with the employees of the USPTO. Throughout the year, all personnel of the USPTO provided unfettered access to the information requested by the PPAC in the role as advisors. They regularly provided detailed information allowing us to better understand the complex issues facing the USPTO and permitted constructive discussions of options, constraints, and upcoming initiatives for our consideration and comment.

The PPAC thanks all of the employees of the USPTO for their assistance over this year and for the efforts made by all to improve the system and provide a world class patent office. The leadership at the USPTO has consistently demonstrated a commitment to excellence throughout all of our interactions and we commend their efforts to continually provide better service, quality, information, and interactions with the public. This positive atmosphere translated to more productive interactions with the PPAC and the public in numerous venues. The USPTO continued to demonstrate transparency by holding public meetings and issuing requests for comment on various proposed changes, actions which can only provide better results. We are grateful to the management of the USPTO and the examiners’ union, POPA, for the assistance we have received in fulfilling our roles as members of the PPAC. We look forward to our continuing interactions with the USPTO.

FY 2014 was a year of recovery from the budget cuts stemming from sequestration in FY 2013, resulting in delays to projects and improvements. The USPTO has made excellent progress during FY 2014, accomplishing improvements in a number of areas, largely due to increased access to fees compared to FY 2013. Sequestration in FY 2013 had necessitated significant cuts in the IT initiatives and hiring, but during FY 2014, these projects were begun again to continue the critical IT initiatives and pendency reduction efforts targeted by the USPTO.

Throughout FY 2014, fee collections tracked above the appropriated level. At the end of the fiscal year, the Office collected $129 million of patent fees above the appropriated level, which is the first deposit into the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund (PTFRF) established by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) in 2013 to ensure that all fees paid by customers of the USPTO were available to the Office to cover operations and related expenses of the Office only. The USPTO is planning to submit a reprogramming notification for these funds, which will be the USPTO’s first opportunity to access funds deposited in the PTFRF. Of paramount importance to the PPAC is the access to all fees paid to the USPTO, including those fees deposited in the PTFRF. We supported fee increases in FY 2013 to fund an operating reserve to support sustainable funding and to allow the USPTO to make critical, long-overdue improvements to the IT infrastructure and to hire examiners to provide the necessary manpower to meet the pendency targets. It is crucial that all of that increased fee revenue remain with the USPTO and be made available for use in achieving these critical improvements. The linkage between intellectual property (IP) and the U.S. economy is clear, and a strong, technologically-supported USPTO is vital to maintaining the ability of the USPTO to provide timely, quality examination resulting in patents of value in the world marketplace.

II. PPAC PROCESSES

The PPAC holds quarterly meetings at the USPTO to address patent-related matters. These meetings are announced in advance, are open to the public, are Web cast, and have telephone call-in numbers so interested persons can provide real-time feedback and ideas. We encourage members of the public to submit comments and questions via telephone, e-mail, or via the PPAC Web site. The Committee also participates in hearings, roundtables, and other publically announced events to obtain input regarding matters of significance to the USPTO and the innovation communities.

The Committee has several standing subcommittees to address topical areas that are focused upon issues that require action over time. The subcommittees consist of up to four members. Subcommittees meet informally from time to time, either in person or via teleconferences. The topical areas discussed in detail below represent matters of ongoing interest to the USPTO and the Committee. Topical area subcommittees interact with USPTO personnel to obtain information, engage in in-depth discussions, and provide suggestions to assist the Office.

Members of the subcommittees have greatly appreciated the high level of cooperation and trust afforded by Office personnel. For this trust, the Committee sincerely thanks Deputy Director Michelle Lee, Commissioner Focarino, and other Office personnel for helping to create a very positive, effective working relationship for the benefit of the entire user community.

Brief descriptions of the PPAC’s activities and how those have furthered the Strategic Plan are below. More detailed descriptions are provided in the individual sections.

      A. FINANCE

The USPTO continues its efforts toward establishing a sustainable funding model that provides the Office with a reliable and sustainable source of funding. The Office is 100% user fee funded and thus must operate like a business, providing services and charging fees projected to cover the cost of the services. Projecting fees is a constant challenge, as it requires the Office to predict user behavior often years in advance. The Office must take into account changes in global economic conditions, possible legislative and judicial changes, and potential Presidential Directives. Each of these, in addition to many other factors, has elastic effects on demand for the services of the Office and thus the funds available to the Office.

The USPTO requested access to $3,071 million of user fees ($2,808 million of which are patent fees) in its FY 2014 President’s Budget. Congress appropriated the Office $47 million less than the initial request, $3,024 million. Throughout FY 2014, fee collections tracked above the appropriated level. At the end of the fiscal year, the Office collected $129 million of patent fees above the appropriated level.

For FY 2015, the USPTO’s appropriation bill is congressionally marked at $3,458 million. The Office estimated FY 2015 fee collections in the FY 2015 President’s Budget of $3,442 million. Priorities for the upcoming fiscal year are stated to be a continuation of FY 2014 with additional focus on information technology updates.

The USPTO is committed to being responsive to the chilling effect on innovation of high user fees. In FY 2014, the USPTO finalized a policy prescribing the process for biennial reviews of the agency fee structure and will engage in a biennial fee review at the start of FY 2015. The PPAC commends the Office for undertaking these reviews to re-evaluate whether fees are commensurate with the Office’s projected needs.

Recommendations: While we commend the changes that the AIA imparted, we cannot ignore the continuing financial uncertainty that the Office is subjected to annually.

The PPAC is very concerned regarding the PTFRF that was established by the AIA for deposit of fees collected by the Office above the appropriated level. The first deposit into the PTFRF was made this fall. This will be the first test of whether the USPTO will indeed have access to all user fees regardless of whether the fees are in excess of the Office’s congressionally-approved appropriations and will be the first test of whether the language of the AIA fulfills its stated purpose.

Due to continued uncertainty, the PPAC again urges 1) the Administration to prevent the application of any future sequestrations of, or revenue diversions from, the Office and 2) Congress to consider removing the Office from the appropriations process.

The PPAC will continue to monitor and consult with the USPTO as the appropriation and biennial fee review processes continue. We are confident that the USPTO will continue its outreach to all stakeholders, including the PPAC, to ascertain the appropriate fee schedule going forward.

      B. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

In FY 2014, the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) accelerated the pace of information technology (IT) development after sustaining drastic cuts during the prior year’s sequestration. The Office significantly increased the IT budget this year in order to allow for the resumption of key initiatives such as Patents End-to-End and to continue to upgrade its aging IT infrastructure. The OCIO resumed hiring, engaged new contractors, restarted tabled projects, and increased IT spending by 71% (an increase of about $262 million) from FY 2013 to FY 2014. The jump in spending this year was largely due to the restoration of funding for projects that had been brought to a dead stop in April 2013 during sequestration. This resulted in progress on work that had been deferred or delayed during the previous year’s budget cuts. However, because of the latency in hiring and resuming projects that was noted in our previous report, the Office is still recovering from 2013 and the IT infrastructure is still at risk.

Further increases in IT spending are planned for FY 2015 in order to continue with projects that were put on hold during FY 2013, hire qualified staff to support new technologies as they are phased in, and maintain mission-critical systems as the transition is gradually made to a new infrastructure. The OCIO expects IT spending to taper and in fact plans lower spending in FY 2017 and beyond, as the new systems take over and the Office no longer has to bear the costs of supporting both the legacy systems and new technologies. The OCIO currently projects a spending increase of 18% in the IT budget for FY 2015 over FY 2014 with a return to FY 2014 spending levels within three years.

As the PPAC has reported in previous years, the Office has undertaken a set of modernization initiatives to drive these objectives, with a portfolio known as “Patents End-to-End” (PE2E) as its mainstay. PE2E, as its name indicates, is a set of IT systems aimed at streamlining the processing of patent documents and actions from their inception to their downstream archiving. In addition to offering opportunities for enhancements to patent quality (for example, through better search capabilities, collaboration among examiners and offices, and consistency in office actions), the PE2E portfolio comprises part of the Office’s need to upgrade an aging IT infrastructure, a challenge faced by all large-scale organizations.

In FY 2014, the OCIO revived dozens of projects that had been de-funded or had funding reduced during the budget cuts of FY 2013. This entailed selecting and engaging new contractors to perform highly skilled technical work, as well as hiring over 100 new IT employees. Because of the timing of bringing on and training new people and deploying them to projects, some of the projects that had been delayed could not be resumed until late in the year. However, as of the time of this report, the OCIO is on track in terms of recovering ground lost during the previous year. Nearly every delayed project has been at least restarted. Additionally, the IT staff has met the ongoing requirements of the AIA and international systems such as Cooperative Patent Classification and Global Dossier. The OCIO has also done a commendable job of stabilizing legacy systems that could not be upgraded.

The PPAC notes that, while considerable progress has been made, the Office is still using an IT infrastructure for mission-critical operations that is out of date. The main transaction-handling system for the Office, the Patent Application Location and Monitoring system, and the search tools used by examiners, for example, are both built on proprietary technological designs from the 1980s. These examples illustrate that, while the IT funding situation has improved and work is progressing with deliberate speed, the PPAC points to the ever urgent need for aggressive development in IT at the same time as it is pleased with the improvements in funding and commends the OCIO for progress during FY 2014. This means that in the coming years the Office will be required to bear the increased costs of continuing to support its legacy systems as it moves forward with new projects and replacing its aging infrastructure step by step.

Recommendations: The restoration of funding in FY 2014 for projects curtailed in FY 2013 has helped the OCIO to recover, but the Office is still behind in terms of IT modernization efforts and must continue to move forward aggressively.  The PPAC recommends that the USPTO continue to provide increased funding for IT, protect IT from future cuts, continue to modernize IT systems and replace legacy systems, expand support for the global IT community, and continue to upgrade and expand links with stakeholders.

      C. REQUESTS FOR CONTINUED EXAMINATION

The PPAC is pleased to report that progress was made during FY 2014 in reducing the backlog of requests for continued examination (RCEs) to 46,441 as of October 1, 2014.

Following the move of RCEs from the examiner’s amended docket to the special continuing docket, the backlog of RCEs ballooned from about 17,000 in October of 2009 to over 110,000 in March of 2013; however, focused attention on RCEs had reduced the backlog to 78,272 at the end of September 2013. Further implementation of initiatives of the RCE Leveling Plan, which was developed from input gathered from a series of roundtables and focus sessions around the country, provided continued progress towards reducing the backlog of RCEs. Additionally, the efforts moved the oldest RCEs resulting in 52% of the RCEs being over four months from filing on October 1, 2014, compared to 73.4% of the RCEs on October 1, 2013. This is a commendable achievement.

Two programs instituted by the USPTO, the After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) and Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement (QPIDS), have shown some positive results. QPIDS has allowed applicants to have new prior art considered by the USPTO without the need for an RCE. From 2,241 processed QPIDS requests during FY 2014 (as of August 7, 2014), 1,934 continued on to issue without an RCE.

The USPTO provided the Patent Application Initiatives Web site to the public and internally to the examiners to provide a single online location where applicants and examiners can compare the advantages of various patent programs available to applicants during specific stages of prosecution. The USPTO is commended for the establishment of this useful tool.

Recommendations: The PPAC recommends exploring an avenue for resolution of issues in prosecution other than an appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, such as permitting applicant participation in the pre-appeal brief conference or the appeal conference that would permit an interview with multiple primary examiners in addition to the examiner of record. The PPAC also recommends that the Office place RCEs on the amended docket or establish a goal of four months to completion of an action. The PPAC recommends that the AFCP 2.0 be made permanent and that efforts be made for more consideration of amendments after final. The PPAC recommends providing the opportunity for the entry of two responses as a matter of right in each application and/or providing an option for paying for the consideration of one more amendment after a final rejection to reduce the need for appeals or filing of RCEs.

      D. HUMAN CAPITAL

The sequester in FY 2013 severely limited the Office’s ability to hire new examiners; however, with a stable budget and greater certainty moving forward, the Office has been able to increase the number of new hires in FY 2014 and return to its hiring goals for FY 2015 and beyond. The impact of stable funding resulted in the hiring of 964 new examiners in FY 2014 and a goal of adding between 400-600 new examiners in FY 2015. Furthermore, the Office saw a decrease in the attrition rate between FY 2013 and FY 2014. In FY 2013, the attrition rate was 3.94%, and in FY 2014 that rate decreased to 3.39%, a nearly 14% decrease during a time where there is an improving economy and higher job demand. This is largely due to the positive work environment that resulted in the Office being named the #1 Best Place to Work in the Federal Government in FY 2013.

In addition to the first satellite office in Detroit, Michigan, there is now a permanent satellite office open in Denver, Colorado, and temporary offices in Silicon Valley, California, and Dallas, Texas. A total of 137 examiners and 47 judges have been hired with an additional 112 examiners expected to be hired for these offices in FY 2015.

Currently, 59.4% of eligible examiners and 47.3% of all examiners work remotely in the hoteling program.

Efforts at attracting and maintaining a skilled corps of examiners is critical to effective examination of applications, reducing patent pendency, and reducing backlog.

Recommendations: The PPAC strongly recommends that the Office be provided stable funding to hire enough examiners to maintain appropriate levels in FY 2015 and beyond.

The PPAC recommends that the Office continue to support, promote, and expand the Patents Hoteling Program and telework programs, both of which permit examiners to work from remote locations. It also strongly recommends that the USPTO continue to put systems in place to properly manage these programs to measure productivity and monitor potential abuse.

Additionally, the PPAC recommends continuing to target experienced IP professionals for the available new examiner positions and to advance geographical expansion of the workforce and telework initiatives to attract a larger pool of well-qualified candidates and further enhance retention of experienced examiners for an entire career.

      E. PATENT QUALITY

The issuance of high quality patents with a reasonable pendency remains the most important priority for the USPTO. The Office made positive strides in addressing both patent quality and pendency during FY 2014.

The USPTO made positive strides in patent quality during FY 2014. The USPTO has identified at least three facets to world class patent examination quality: (i) providing the best work products and services at every stage of the patent process; (ii) improving stakeholder experience with the USPTO based on excellent customer service; and (iii) engaging stakeholders in partnership to educate and seek input. With respect to work products and services, the USPTO undertook efforts in FY 2014 to improve the measurement of patent examination quality through various initiatives including emphasizing quality early in the examination process, expanding information collected during the review of examiners’ work product, and feeding review data back into the examination process at the earliest stage. In the legal training area, the USPTO has implemented a multi-phased legal refresher training program for all examiners that focuses on evaluating functional claiming and improving the clarity of the examination record. With respect to technical training, the USPTO is expanding its Patent Examiner Technical Training Program to provide more patent examiners with direct access to experts from industry and academics. In addition, the USPTO is expanding ways for the public to help examiners determine whether an invention is patentable by finding relevant prior art through the use of crowd sourcing.

The customer service/applicant experience continued to be a main focus for the USPTO. In FY 2014, the USPTO continued to provide all examiners with interview practice training. The USPTO continued its focus on the independent inventor community by developing a pilot program that dedicates a team of specially trained patent examiners to examine pro se filed applications and work with pro se applicants during prosecution. The USPTO’s customer support call centers continue to provide patent information and services to applicants and the public, including independent inventors, small businesses, and university-affiliated inventors.

A patent ombudsman program continued to enhance the USPTO’s ability to assist applicants, such as independent inventors and small businesses, or their representatives with issues that arise during patent application prosecution. Moreover, the USPTO continued to conduct customer satisfaction surveys to measure satisfaction of applicants and practitioners with patent examination quality.

In the public outreach/education area, the USPTO has formed several partnerships with the stakeholder community to provide opportunities to bring stakeholders and the USPTO together to share ideas, feedback, experiences, and insight on patent related issues arising in specific technology areas. In addition, the USPTO held a public forum in May 2014 to receive public feedback on the USPTO’s subject matter eligibility guidance.

The USPTO is committed to continuing to measure patent quality and refine the metrics utilized for the measurement, including finding a suitable set of measurements to replace/supplement the current patent quality index and engaging stakeholders on how best to gauge and improve patent quality. In FY 2014, the PPAC participated in initial discussions to review the quality index and related initiatives. The PPAC supports these efforts and looks forward to continued work with the Office on these initiatives.

Recommendations: The PPAC commends the Office for adopting the three-facet approach and other programs aimed at advancing world class patent examination quality. However, the PPAC recommends that the USPTO continue to provide training to examiners to have them conduct a complete initial search and to correctly apply the prior art to the claims. With respect to training, the PPAC recommends that the claim interpretation training section focus on, among other things, the “broadest reasonable interpretation standard” for interpreting claims.

The PPAC requests that the USPTO continue to review the examination process to consider ways to avoid a patent application from going to “final” status prematurely. For example, examiners should issue a second non-final office action if the prior art references cited in the second office action were not previously cited in the first office action if only minor changes were made in an amendment in response to the first non-final office action. In addition, the USPTO should consider ways to improve the quality of final rejections and find ways to increase consideration of after-final amendments. The USPTO should consider further changes to the AFCP 2.0.

The USPTO has been reviewing its patent quality composite index. The PPAC recommends that the USPTO use the actual numbers in determining patent quality during the different stages of the examination process, not report the numbers as a percentage of a goal or combining them into a single index that might inadvertently hide important data. The PPAC recommends against the continued reliance on the quality composite index as a bellwether of patent quality because the index may be misleading to the public.

      F. PATENT PENDENCY

The USPTO continued to make improvements to decrease pendency to first action and total pendency during FY 2014, achieving 27.4 months for total pendency and 18.4 months for pendency to first action. The increase in first action pendency from 18.2 in FY 2013 stems from a change in the RCE count system and examiner training, in particular for the adoption of the Cooperative Patent Classification.

Instrumental to these gains was a focus on moving the oldest new applications, hiring new examiners, and several initiatives implemented by the USPTO, including Track One, AFCP 2.0, and the Patent Prosecution Highway.

Recommendations: The PPAC recommends that the USPTO establish targets aligned with the congressionally-established Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) timeframes of 14-4-4-4-36 to reduce the amount of PTA granted in patents. Especially important is the establishment of a goal for completion of an action in RCEs, either as amended applications or four months from filing.

      G. PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD

The USPTO’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) continued to make positive strides in 2014. At the end of FY 2014, the Board included 214 judges. Each of the satellite offices includes PTAB judges.

The backlog of ex parte appeals pending at the Board stood at 25,658 applications as of September 30, 2014. The backlog averaged about 25,800 applications for the year. The trend was relatively flat for the year, with the peak reaching 26,208 applications in January 2014, and the lowest levels reaching 25,594 in July 2014. The Board continues to implement a per curiam process, whereby certain appeals can be decided based on arguments by the examiners or appellants in the written record. The Board has affirmed or affirmed-in-part 67%, reversed 30%, and remanded or dismissed about 3% of the examiner’s decisions.

The PTAB continued to be busy with inter partes review (IPR) and covered business method (CBM) filings in FY 2014, receiving a peak of 190 IPR/CBM petitions in June 2014. As of September 30, 2014, the Board received 2,082 total petitions since the inception of the AIA: 1,841 IPR proceedings, 233 CBM proceedings, two post-grant review (PGR) proceedings, and six derivation proceedings. The majority of the petitions were in the electrical/computer software area. In particular, the petition filings by area of technology were: 71.6% electrical/computer software; 15.6% mechanical; 6.8% chemical; 5.6% biotechnology/pharmaceutical; and 0.4% design.

The PTAB made significant outreach efforts in 2014. In particular, the PTAB hosted eight roundtables around the country in April and May 2014 to share information about the AIA trials. In addition to the eight PTAB roundtables, the USPTO issued a Federal Register notice dated June 27, 2014, titled Request for Comments on Trial Proceedings Under the America Invents Act Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The Federal Register notice included two parts, one directed to non-rule comments and a second directed to 17 questions posed by the PTAB to elicit feedback with respect to certain AIA trial rules.

Recommendations: The PPAC recommends that the PTAB remain vigilant in hiring PTAB judges and explore other ways to handle the increased AIA workflow and to decrease the ex parte appeals backlog.

With respect to the AIA’s requirement that the PTAB issue a written decision within a one-year period of granting the petition to institute, the PPAC notes that the AIA requires only a “good cause” showing to go beyond the one-year timeframe. Consequently, in appropriate cases, the PPAC believes that the PTAB should not be reluctant to exceed the one-year threshold if there is “good cause” for doing so.

With respect to the PTAB’s claim amendment procedures, the PPAC recommends that the USPTO be more flexible in the PTAB claim amendment practice to make such amendments more available to patent owners.

The PPAC recommends that the USPTO implement pilot programs to expedite review of the pending ex parte appeals. The pilot programs may include allowing the patent owner or an anonymous third party to pay a fee to expedite the review of the pending appeal and changing the pre-appeal brief and/or appeal conference program to allow applicants to participate in the review.

      H. LEGISLATION

While the past few years have been focused on the passage and implementation of the AIA, the majority of legislative activity in the current year seems focused primarily on alleged patent litigation abuse. Both the White House and Congress proposed a number of both administrative and legislative actions to address various issues raised concerning abusive litigation tactics. While sometimes ascribed pejoratively to “patent trolls” or “non-practicing entities,” the PPAC notes that a consensus seems to be forming that it is less the status of a particular company, rather than the particular abusive actions taken, that bears the most fruitful attention.

The PPAC has continued to work closely with the Office as it reviewed and enacted the particular recommended administrative changes and will continue to do so. The PPAC was concerned this past year that these new mandates were placed on the Office, even as a significant amount of its funding was taken away under sequestration. The PPAC also remains concerned that the implementation of any such administrative actions must be carefully and thoughtfully tailored to attack exactly the right sorts of abuses, without unduly burdening patent applicants or preventing the rightful assertion of patent rights, which, after all, provide lawful rights to exclude others from practicing new, non-obvious, and useful inventions.

Recommendations: The PPAC will continue to monitor and consult with the USPTO as the legislative and administrative processes address allegedly abusive activities. The PPAC recommends that the USPTO ensure that any proposed administrative changes are appropriately and narrowly targeted for any such alleged abuse without unduly harming our overall patent system, the smooth operation of the examination process, the quality of patents issued, or the overall costs and burdens to applicants.

The PPAC was concerned that the Office of Management and Budget made the determination that USPTO user fees were also subject to sequestration. The PPAC recommends that the USPTO continue to work with the Administration and Congress to ensure that the USPTO has access to all of its fees.

      I. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND WORK SHARING

The PPAC supports the creation of the Office of International Cooperation (OIPC) and its efforts to focus and provide a unified message regarding the USPTO’s global initiatives. The PPAC further believes that having such a coordinated group of USPTO representatives under the OIPC should somewhat lessen the impact of future budget cuts on the USPTO regarding global initiatives.

The PPAC supports the efforts made by the USPTO in its international cooperation and work sharing initiatives among multiple patent offices and encourages the continued development and expansion of these efforts, particularly, for example, the Patent Prosecution Highway Program, the Global Dossier Initiative, software search tools and databases, such as Common Citation Document and Global Patent Search Network, and the implementation of the Hague Agreement.

Recommendations: The PPAC recommends that the USPTO direct much more education, outreach, resources, and training to the user community to showcase the benefits of these important global initiatives. Additionally, the PPAC encourages much greater outreach to a varied audience of entities and groups from the user community for insight and input regarding current and future USPTO global initiatives. Finally, the PPAC recommends that the USPTO diligently review its efforts on an annual basis to ensure that the initiatives promote the overall objectives of harmonization and international work sharing and reduce duplication of efforts by patent offices as well as internally within the USPTO, while at the same time promoting best practices to improve timeliness and quality.

      J. USPTO OUTREACH INITIATIVES

In addition to the robust outreach activities conducted by the other outreach teams at the USPTO, the Office of Innovation Development (OID) oversees the Office’s efforts to support American innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation. Often working closely with other U.S. Government officials and agencies, the OID designs and implements outreach assistance programs to a wide range of stakeholders including independent inventors, women, small business concerns, university affiliates, minorities, and other underserved communities.

The OID also assists the Office’s educational outreach programs that promote IP protection and the valuable role it plays as a key driver of the American economy. These programs are designed to educate the public about intellectual property in general as well as the specifics of the patent application process, including the intricacies of patent prosecution and post-grant patent issues. The post patent grant education includes the importance of patents and other forms of intellectual property in starting, building, and growing a business.

In addition, the OID and the Office of Education and Outreach work collaboratively on the development and delivery of educational materials, activities, and programs to promote intellectual property for students, educators, and young inventors and innovators of all ages, including a particular focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, also known as STEM.

The USPTO has restored and continues to expand its outreach activities to the inventor community now that the budget constraints due to sequestration have been lifted.

Recommendations: The PPAC commends the Office on the significant outreach efforts to the entire user community from women entrepreneurs and independent inventors, to bar associations and national organizations. The PPAC recommends that the Office continue to provide resources and outreach to all groups within the user community.

TOPICAL AREAS

I. FINANCE

      A. INTRODUCTION

The USPTO continues its efforts toward establishing a sustainable funding model that provides the Office with a reliable and sustainable source of funding. The Office is 100% user fee funded and thus must operate like a business, providing services and charging fees projected to cover the cost of the services. Projecting fees is a constant challenge, as it requires the Office to predict user behavior often years in advance. The Office must take into account changes in global economic conditions, possible legislative and judicial changes, and potential Presidential Directives. Each of these, in addition to many other factors, has elastic effects on demand for the services of the Office and thus the funds available to the Office.

Notwithstanding these challenges, the USPTO does an excellent job of creating yearly budgets and updating the budget calculations throughout the fiscal year as conditions change. Most years, the USPTO’s actual collections are within 5% of projected collections. Even so, in order to effectively manage the elasticity of demand, the Office must maintain two essential funds, the Salaries and Expenses Fund and the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund.

Additionally, the USPTO is committed to being responsive to the chilling effect on innovation of high user fees. In FY 2014, the USPTO finalized a policy prescribing the process for biennial reviews of the agency fee structure and will engage in a biennial fee review at the start of FY 2015. We commend the Office for undertaking these reviews to re-evaluate whether fees are commensurate with the Office’s projected needs. We are particularly pleased with the outreach by the Office to the user community in July 2014 for input regarding pendency goals, which could have a direct effect on funding needs going forward. The stakeholder voice is essential to the legitimacy of the outcome.

      B. SALARIES AND EXPENSES FUND

The Operating Reserve within the Salaries and Expenses fund enables the USPTO to sustain operations by absorbing costs as necessary in response to temporary changes in economic and operating environments.

Annually, Congress authorizes the USPTO to spend a designated amount of the fees it collects. The USPTO appropriation is available until expended. This permits the USPTO to carry forward the unobligated (unspent) fees for use in subsequent years. These unspent fees are set aside as an operating reserve, often referred to as carryover, and remain in the USPTO’s appropriation account maintained in the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

The USPTO demonstrated the importance of an operating reserve receiving full access to its fee collections at the beginning of FY 2014 (October 1, 2013, to September 30, 2014). For the first 16 days of the fiscal year, there was no enacted appropriations bill. Without the passage of an appropriations bill, most federal agencies did not have authorization to expend public funds. As a result, the majority of the Federal Government shut down for 16 days. However, with sufficient prior fiscal year carryover funding available in its operating reserve, the USPTO was able remain open and fully operational during this time, despite a lapsed appropriation of funds. The USPTO collected approximately $146 million in patent fees during the shutdown period. The ability of the Office to continue its mission, collect fees, and provide service to its fee-paying customers and public during the shutdown is a clear example of the importance of ensuring access to all of the fees the USPTO generates.

The USPTO is finalizing a policy to detail the process for assessing the optimal operating reserve size and to evaluate and maintain the operating reserve over time. The operating reserve policy will apply to unspent fees originally planned for spending for annual operating requirements and both planned and unplanned fee surpluses. The policy will provide guidance on establishing the size of the reserve, maintaining the established level, and roles and responsibilities.

      C. THE PATENT AND TRADEMARK FEE RESERVE FUND

The Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund (PTFRF) was established by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) in 2013. This fund was enacted to ensure that all fees paid by customers of the USPTO to the Office for services rendered or to be rendered were available to the Office to cover operations and related expenses of the Office only, including supporting an operating reserve as described above. In the past, more than $1 billion of user fees paid to the Office were instead unavailable to the Office. This fund is essential because, as additional work comes in, so will additional funds to cover the additional work. Without access to the additional funds, the Office must manage the additional load using fees paid by other users to the system (robbing Peter to pay Paul). The PTFRF fund is intended to ensure that the Office is authorized to deposit all fees collected in excess of appropriated (projected) fee level in the PTFRF. In such an eventuality, the USPTO can then access the deposited funds when needed by submitting a reprogramming notification to Congress.

The Office collected $2,897 million in Patent fees in FY 2014, $129 million more from users for additional work beyond that which was projected by the Office. These additional funds are expected to become available to the Office after Congress reviews the Office’s request to retain these funds. These funds will be used for a variety of purposes including reducing the current patent application backlog, decreasing patent pendency, improving patent quality and customer service, and upgrading the Office’s patent business information technology capabilities and infrastructure by building an operating reserve to mitigate the risk for incidents such as those discussed previously. Most importantly, these funds are slated to go toward implementing a sustainable funding model. The PPAC strongly encourages that the promise made to the Office in the AIA, for the Office to retain these funds, be fulfilled.

      D. BIENNIAL FEE REVIEW

The Office finalized a policy prescribing the process for biennial reviews of the agency fee structure this year and will engage in a biennial fee review at the start of FY 2015, pending the outcome of a patent pendency review with stakeholders. The review will include an examination of how well the current fee schedule supports achievement of the Office’s strategic goals and objectives and fee structure philosophy. The review, conducted at least once every two years, includes the consideration of potential changes to USPTO fees, including the establishment of new fees, the removal of fees, and adjustments to current fees. The outcome of a biennial fee review could result in proposed regulatory actions to adjust fees to levels that will sustain desired operating levels for the long term.

      E. FISCAL YEAR 2014

The USPTO requested access to $3,071 million of user fees ($2,808 million of which are patent fees) in its FY 2014 President’s Budget. Congress appropriated the Office $47 million less than the initial request, $3,024 million. Of the appropriated amount, the USPTO has apportioned $2,768 in patent fees. Throughout FY 2014, fee collections tracked above the appropriated level. At the end of the fiscal year, the Office collected $129 million of patent fees above the appropriated level, which is the first deposit into the PTFRF. The USPTO is planning to submit a reprogramming notification for these funds, which will be the USPTO’s first opportunity to access funds deposited in the PTFRF.

The USPTO began the fiscal year reacting to the impact from a number of funding challenges and implementation of provisions of the AIA experienced in FYs 2012 and 2013. Sequestration and uncertainty over the implementation of a new patent fee schedule affected operations in FY 2013, which required adjustments to budget plans in FY 2014. The USPTO collected lower patent fee revenue than it originally planned in the FY 2013 President’s Budget due to the changes reflected in the new patent fee schedule. In addition, sequestration was implemented against total collections, which further impacted available resources in FY 2013. The USPTO took action by reducing planned obligations through a minimal hiring approach, which delayed plans to reach targeted pendency goals, deferred major IT spending, and cut other discretionary projects. With prudent fiscal management, the USPTO moved forward on a number of spending priorities to support the strategic plan objectives and goals. These priorities include patent pendency and backlog reduction, investments in information technology, completing implementation of the AIA, enhancing quality of patent examination by maintaining and improving quality measurement, and opening its second permanent satellite office in Denver, CO.

Additionally, the USPTO implemented certain fee adjustments in December 2013 to align with the Patent Law Treaty and lowered issue and publication fees in January 2014 as part of the inaugural FY 2013 Patent Fee Setting and Adjusting rule.

      F. FISCAL YEAR 2015

The USPTO’s appropriation bill is congressionally marked at $3,458 million. The Office estimated FY 2015 fee collections in the FY 2015 President’s Budget of $3,442. Priorities for the upcoming fiscal year are a continuation of FY 2014 focuses, to include: reducing patent pendency and the backlog of unexamined patent applications, while working with stakeholders to refine long-term pendency goals that will meet the needs of both the Office and the IP community; opening an additional satellite office in San Jose, CA; continuing the transition to a sustainable funding model, which includes building the operating reserve and conducting the biennial fee review; enhancing patent and trademark quality by maintaining and improving quality measurement and improving the quality of patent and trademark examination; increasing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB’s) ability to provide timely and high quality decisions; and ensuring optimal information technology service delivery to both employees and stakeholders by transitioning to next generation technology and services.

In response to concerns identified in the House FY 2015 CJS Appropriation Report language regarding the USPTO’s IT infrastructure, the Office, with congressional authority, plans to increase IT spending above the planned level identified in the FY 2015 President’s Budget. The resulting impact on increased fiscal year spending may reduce the estimated operating reserve level in FY 2015.

      G. RECOMMENDATIONS

FY 2014 has been a great year financially for the USPTO. However, it is as important now as ever to emphasize that a consistent funding stream and full access to fees for this 100% user-fee-funded agency is essential to the operation of the Office.

The PPAC is also very concerned regarding the PTFRF that was established by the AIA. The first deposit into the PTFRF was made this fall. This will be the first test of whether the USPTO will indeed have access to all user fees regardless of whether the fees are in excess of the Office’s congressionally-approved appropriations. This will be the first test of whether the language of the AIA fulfills its stated purpose.

While we commend this step forward, we cannot ignore the continuing financial uncertainty that the Office is subjected to annually. As such, the PPAC again urges 1) the Administration to prevent the application of any future sequestrations of, or revenue diversions from, the Office and 2) for Congress to consider removing the Office from the appropriations process.

The PPAC will continue to monitor and consult with the USPTO as the appropriation and biennial fee review processes continue. We are confident that the USPTO will continue its outreach to all stakeholders, including the PPAC, to ascertain the appropriate fee schedule going forward.

II. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

      A. OVERVIEW

In this Section of the report, the PPAC describes the information technology (IT) initiatives undertaken by the USPTO and the continued progress made this year in supporting the Office’s overall objectives and strategic goals. Under the direction of the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), the USPTO selects, integrates, implements, and maintains information technology in support of improving patent quality, reducing pendency and backlog, advancing IP leadership in the United States and internationally, and building and maintaining a 21st century work environment.

In FY 2014, the OCIO accelerated the pace of IT development after sustaining drastic cuts during the prior year’s sequestration. The Office significantly increased the IT budget this year in order to allow for the resumption of key initiatives such as Patents End-to-End and to continue to upgrade its aging IT infrastructure. The USPTO resumed hiring, engaged new contractors, restarted tabled projects, and increased IT spending by 71% (an increase of about $262 million) from FY 2013 to FY 2014. The jump in spending this year was largely due to the restoration of funding for projects that had been brought to a dead stop in April 2013 during sequestration. This resulted in progress on work that had been deferred or delayed during the previous year’s budget cuts. However, because of the latency in hiring and resuming projects that was noted in our previous report, the USPTO is still recovering from the sequestration and the IT infrastructure remains at risk.

Further increases in IT spending are planned and are necessary for FY 2015 and FY 2016 to continue projects that were put on hold during FY 2013, hire qualified staff to support new technologies as they are phased in, and maintain mission-critical systems during the transition to a new infrastructure. These additional incremental costs are needed not only to complete the long-delayed modernization of the Office’s aging infrastructure, but also at the same time to support the increasing demands of a growing, distributed workforce, improved global work sharing and internationalization, ongoing threats to system stability and security, and increased automation and streamlining of filings and processes—in essence, the OCIO is “changing the wheels” as the vehicle is not only still moving but increasing in speed.

The OCIO expects IT spending to taper and in fact plans lower spending in FY 2017 and beyond, as the new systems take over and the Office no longer has to bear the costs of supporting both the legacy systems and new technologies. Baseline IT spending in the out years is still expected to be higher than FY 2012 or FY 2013 (during sequestration) due to higher labor costs and a much larger examiner corps; however, the spending profile reflects the projected cost-effectiveness of IT spending once the legacy systems are retired.

 FY 2012 
 Actual 

 FY 2013 
 Actual 

 FY 2014 
 Actual 

 FY 2015 
 Planned 

Total USPTO IT Spend (in $1000s)

 $   391,488 

 $   367,674 

 $   629,764 

 $   763,374 

Non-OCIO Total

 $     42,324 

 $     41,388 

 $     89,064 

 $     81,748 

OCIO Total

 $   349,164 

 $   326,286 

 $   540,508 

 $   681,626 

OCIO Compensation

 $     64,963 

 $     72,466 

 $     79,966 

 $   107,324 

OCIO Total Non-Comp

 $   284,201 

 $   253,820 

 $  460,733 

 $   574,302 

      B. MISSION OF THE OCIO AND STRATEGIC IT OBJECTIVES

In alignment with the USPTO’s overall strategic goals of improving patent quality and reducing pendency, the OCIO is responsible for deploying and maintaining modern IT systems and infrastructure that improve quality and efficiency, for example, by helping examiners to work productively and effectively and by supporting communication and coordination with the user community and international stakeholders.

As the PPAC has reported in previous years, the Office has undertaken a set of modernization initiatives to drive these objectives, with a portfolio known as “Patents End-to-End” (PE2E) as its mainstay. PE2E, as its name indicates, is a set of IT systems aimed at streamlining the processing of patent documents and actions from their inception to their downstream archiving. At its core, PE2E implements an advanced data architecture based on open, text-based industry standards such as the Extensible Markup Language, or XML, moving away from proprietary, image-based approaches that are behind some of the USPTO’s legacy data-handling systems. In addition to offering opportunities for enhancements to patent quality (for example, through better search capabilities, collaboration among examiners and offices, and consistency in office actions), the PE2E portfolio comprises part of the Office’s need to upgrade an aging IT infrastructure, a challenge faced by all large-scale organizations.

In FY 2014, the OCIO revived dozens of projects that had been de-funded or had funding reduced during the budget cuts of FY 2013. This entailed selecting and engaging new contractors to perform highly skilled technical work, as well as hiring over 100 new IT employees. Because of the timing of bringing on and training new people and deploying them to projects, some of the projects that had been delayed could not be resumed until late in the fiscal year. However, as of the time of this report, the OCIO is on track in terms of recovering ground lost during the previous year. Nearly every delayed project has been at least restarted. Additionally, the IT staff has met the ongoing requirements of the America Invents Act and international initiatives such as Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) and Global Dossier. The OCIO has also done a commendable job of stabilizing legacy systems that could not be upgraded.

      C. IT MODERNIZATION AT THE USPTO

In its strategic plans and budget requests throughout recent years, the Office has noted the need to modernize its aging IT infrastructure and systems, as well as pointing out the potential costs to stakeholders of having out-of-date systems (due to potential inefficiencies and downtime) along with the opportunities for improvements (due to collaboration and improved workflow and examination practices). As noted above, the OCIO has launched a number of mission-critical initiatives to improve IT infrastructure, processes, and systems.

The PPAC recognizes that the approximately $262 million increase in IT funding for FY 2014 over the reduced $368 million expenditure in FY 2013 was a necessary and positive increment. It must be acknowledged, however, that this funding has simply put the Office back on the right track as far as IT is concerned and that continued and even faster progress must be made in order to overcome the deficiencies that have been repeatedly stated in these reports and in the Office’s plans and budget requests. FY 2014 has been a year of recovery—the current situation shows the harm that was done as the result of budget cuts and uncertainty, along with the improvements that may come from stable funding and budget clarity. Given the inertia that must be overcome in restaffing, restarting projects, replanning in the face of new conditions and requirements, and programming and testing complex systems, it will take years more for the Office to get to where it should be in terms of IT systems modernization.

The Patent Application Location and Monitoring system (PALM) is an excellent example of an aging USPTO mission-critical system. PALM is the backbone database and transaction processing system that records and tracks actions related to patent applications throughout the Office. It was designed for mainframe computers in the 1980s, and, while it has been updated on various occasions, it has not been replaced. Key portions of PALM were slated for modernization at the onset of the PE2E investment, but these portions are still maintained as legacy products because of the cutbacks to PE2E mentioned above along with the higher priority given to other projects discussed here, such as CPC, One Portal Dossier, and Global Patent Search Network (GPSN). The longer legacy replacements and enhancements wait, the more resources are required simply to keep obsolete systems running and the greater the risk of serious system failure.

Other examples of aging mission-critical systems include those used for prior art searching during examination. Examiners currently use search systems known as EAST (Examiner Automated Search Tool), WEST (Web-based Examiner Search Tool), and a set of external databases often referred to as NPL (Non-Patent Literature), as well as some of the same facilities available to all through the Internet. The Office-specific tools, upon which examiners rely most heavily for patent searching, were built upon a proprietary framework developed by a company then known as BRS Search. Like PALM, this custom framework was state of the art during the 1980s and was slated for replacement with the PE2E search framework, which uses current open source software. The new PE2E search facility was tested in 2012 and used in 2013 for Chinese-language patents as part of the GPSN project, but its development and deployment to examiners was put on hold during the FY 2013 budget cuts. Work on this initiative has resumed, but this is another instance where the Office is still behind and playing catch-up. Efficient and effective search is clearly a crucial part of examination: as noted elsewhere in this report, the PPAC notes that conducting a thorough and effective search early in the examination process is a key goal in improving quality in examination processes and work product. The PPAC is concerned that a growing examiner corps is being tasked to undertake an increasing number of prior art searches at a time when the supporting systems are basically unchanged from where they were when the USPTO recommended their upgrade years ago.

These examples illustrate that, while the IT funding situation has improved and work is progressing with deliberate speed, the PPAC notes the ever urgent need for aggressive development in IT at the same time that it is pleased with the improvements in funding and commends the OCIO for progress during FY 2014.

      D. OCIO PROGRESS IN FY 2014

Since our last report, the PPAC has noted that substantial progress has been made in the following areas.

 

1. Patent Examination Tools & Infrastructure

The Patent Examination Tools & Infrastructure projects include a set of integrated workflow, case management, and viewing and search tools to help examiners work productively and effectively. Some examples of the new functionality included in these tools are advanced claims management (including claims tree and claims analysis), reference management, and the ability to search within a pending patent application. During FY 2014, upgrades to the Examination Tools included an enhanced viewing tool compliant with the electronic Desktop Application Navigator (eDAN) docket viewer currently used by the examiner corps. These enhancements included uploading and viewing references and information disclosure statements (IDS) as well as note taking and workflow planning. Complete parity with eDAN, as well as release to the complete corps of examiners and supervising patent examiners, is planned during the next year.

 

2. Global IT Systems

   

a. Cooperative Patent Classification

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) harmonizes patent classification system between the European Patent Office and the USPTO. Because CPC differs from the systems previously used at the USPTO, additional technical resources are needed to search across CPC patent classes, as well as to assign CPC codes to patents. Work on CPC in FY 2014 included a Classification Allocation Tool to assist examiners in cooperatively assigning patent classes, as well as a Transfer & Search Assistance Tool to help transfer applications, two additional steps toward automating the reclassification of patents according to CPC.

   

b. Global Dossier and One Portal Dossier

Global Dossier is a set of projects to facilitate global work sharing by transmitting patent data from the USPTO to its overseas partners, as well as provide access to patent data from other IP5 offices (representing, outside of the United States, China, Korea, Europe, and Japan). One Portal Dossier is a part of the Examiner Tools & Infrastructure component of the PE2E portfolio, through which examiners will be able to view non-USPTO patent dossiers using the same viewers that help to process U.S. applications. During the coming years, the Office plans to offer public access to foreign dossiers, such as that currently available through the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system.

      E. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC believes that IT development and modernization efforts at the OCIO have produced valuable results in support of the USPTO’s mission. In last year’s report, the PPAC recommended a large budget increase for IT and further recommended protecting critical IT projects from budget cuts. The USPTO and the Administration granted IT a large increase for FY 2014 and have planned further increases for the future, with the understanding that IT spending will be reduced as legacy systems are replaced. Progress must continue in the following areas:

  1. Continue to provide increased funding

As discussed above, the dramatic mid-year cuts in FY 2013 significantly compromised mission-critical IT systems at the Office and derailed modernization efforts aimed at improving quality and reducing pendency, among other strategic objectives. In order to reverse this and have a chance at catching up, significant increases in the IT budget were required for FY 2014. Stable funding is envisioned during the coming years due to the greatly improved budget situation at the USPTO. The Office must continue to invest in IT systems and to guard against the kind of events that led to the disruptions in IT projects and modernization during the previous year.

  2. Continue to modernize IT systems and replace legacy IT systems

While the OCIO has made great progress in stabilizing IT systems, some of the systems, particularly PALM, continue to be obsolete, resulting in threats to the organization as every system failure leads to productivity losses from a growing workforce dependent on electronic systems. The Office must move forward aggressively with its efforts to modernize these systems and replace legacy systems as necessary. For the next two years, at least, this means that the Office will bear the high cost of maintaining a number of legacy systems at the same time that it invests in projects that will ultimately replace these systems. Additionally, the Office must hire new technical staff that are skilled in current technologies at the same time that it pays for the specialized skills required to maintain systems that are out-of-date. This is an expensive situation to be in, but the PPAC sees no alternative for the Office but to pay the price of finally moving to a current-day IT environment, particularly for the infrastructure that supports the work of examiners and the fee-paying user community. Once the price is paid, system development and maintenance should progress more efficiently and IT budgets as a percentage of total operations should decline significantly.

  3. Expand support for the global IT community

Technology support for globalization, such as One Portal Dossier and CPC, continued to be bright spots for the OCIO in FY 2014. These projects must continue, since these efforts are centerpieces of harmonization activities with the other key patent offices and with stakeholders of our global trading partners, as the USPTO moves forward with its vision of leading the world in IP protection and policy.

  4. Continue to upgrade and expand links with stakeholders

While much of this report has focused on the role of IT in support of workforce productivity and effectiveness, the OCIO also plays a significant part in stakeholder service and in expanding links with the nation’s and world’s IP community. Certain efforts, such as Text2PTO and enhancements to the USPTO’s Web site, were scaled back in FY 2013 and must pick up again in the future. Additionally, the Office should examine all customer-facing systems as part of ongoing quality initiatives and IT work should be slated to continue to improve these systems. The PPAC further recommends that the Office expand its engagement with the user community (for example, in its work on Text2PTO) to educate the public and make the most of the benefits of streamlined, text-based systems for the user community, such as in enhanced searching and easier compliance.

III. REQUESTS FOR CONTINUED EXAMINATION

      A. INTRODUCTION

Requests for continued examination (RCEs) have become a necessary part of examination for many patent applications because it has become increasingly difficult to reach agreement on allowable subject matter with current compact prosecution processes and a single opportunity to modify claim language following rejections based on the prior art. In many cases, in order to further pursue the invention, the filing of an RCE has now become more or less essential. This represents a cost to applicants, but the bigger negative consequence of an RCE is the delay experienced in the middle of a “continued examination.” Thus, RCEs continue to represent a problem for applicants in being both a vehicle and impediment to the goal of receiving a patent for their inventions. Through a series of initiatives developed by the Patents RCE team, led by Commissioner for Patents Peggy Focarino and Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations Andrew Faile, significant inroads into the backlog of RCEs was made during FY 2013 and continued during FY 2014 in reducing the backlog of RCEs.

Following the move of RCEs from the examiners’ amended docket to the special continuing docket, the backlog of RCEs ballooned from about 17,000 in October of 2009 to over 110,000 in March of 2013, as can be seen in the chart below. During FY 2013, in cooperation with the PPAC, the USPTO held a series of roundtables and focus sessions around the country and from the input, developed a number of initiatives, which were divided into Phase 1 for fast implementation and Phase 2 for later implementation. The PPAC was a key participant and supporter of these roundtables and sessions. Changes made to the count system and focused attention on examining RCEs led to a reduction in the backlog of RCEs to 78,272 at the end of FY 2013 (September 2013). Continued efforts and implementation of Phase 2 of the RCE Leveling Plan provided further reductions to 46,441 at the end of FY 2014. These are impressive achievements.

RCE Backlog FY 2010 - 2014

As a result of the move of RCEs from the amended docket to a continuing new case docket, the time between filing of the RCEs and the first office action rose from about two to three months previously, to one to two years in FY 2013, representing a truly significant gap in the prosecution of “continued examination,” leading to increased applicant frustration and dissatisfaction. Stemming from the implementation of the RCE Leveling Plan, Phases 1 and 2, the time to completion of an action has shortened. As the RCEs were completed, the overall age of the RCEs awaiting an action has been reduced. The following chart shows the distribution of the RCE backlog by age as compared between October 1, 2013, and August 6, 2014. It can be seen that significant progress has been made in all ages of the RCEs with the oldest RCEs specifically being targeted. This also represents an achievement worthy of praise. However, it can be seen that approximately 24,150 RCEs (52%) of the total are older than four months, an improvement from the 73.4% as of October 1, 2013. Consequently, because RCEs technically are amended applications and Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) begins accruing at four months from the RCE request, all RCEs older than four months will receive PTA of varying amounts of time when actions are completed on them. Of real concern, there still seem to be about 1,700 applications more than 24 months old awaiting an action. As a public policy matter, the public should have certainty about when they will be able to utilize patented technology. Granting PTA should be an unusual event; it should not occur in large numbers of applications. The Office eliminated a deadline for completing RCEs with the move of RCEs from the amended docket, and as a consequence, significant delays in the prosecution have occurred. This is particularly problematic because, when an RCE is requested, an abandonment is counted and the pendency for that application is captured in the Traditional Total Pendency numbers. However, the pendency for the continued examination of the RCE is not included in the Traditional Total Pendency statistics. It is captured only in RCE pendency and Traditional Total Pendency including RCEs statistics reported only on the USPTO Patent Dashboard. To provide real “continued examination” in RCEs, the applications must be picked up for examination quickly and an established goal for completion of an action is essential. RCEs are amended applications and should be treated consistently as such. They should be returned to the amended docket. If that cannot be arranged, in the short term a goal of four months absolute for completion of RCEs would, at least, align with the congressionally-mandated PTA timeframe for completion of amended applications.

Distribution of RCE Backlog by Age as of October 1, 2014 Vs. October 1, 2013

The reductions in the overall RCE backlog have resulted in reductions in the backlog of RCEs per examiner in each Technology Center (TC). According to the chart below, one can see reductions in all TCs. It is noted, however, that significant differences exist among the TCs for how many RCEs occur per examiner. An examination of what drives these differences might assist in reducing the need for RCE filings.

RCE Backlog by TCE (through September 3) and Applications Per Examiner by TC

For the past few years, the USPTO has been seeking input from the PPAC and the public and developing initiatives to improve processes, reduce the backlog of RCEs, and find ways to reduce the need for filing RCEs. These programs, including the AFCP 2.0, QPIDS, and Phase 1 of the RCE Leveling Plan, have shown some success. The backlog of RCEs has been dramatically reduced and QPIDS has allowed applicants to obtain consideration of references cited in an IDS after payment of the issue fee in many situations without requiring the filing of an RCE, as shown in the statistics below. These positive outcomes are applauded.

A preliminary External Survey of the AFCP 2.0 provided encouraging responses in being somewhat or very effective in advancing prosecution and 62% of the respondents stated that the pilot was likely to reduce the likelihood of filing an RCE. Perception is valuable, but an actual evaluation of those applications in which the AFCP 2.0 was requested and their outcomes would assist in the evaluation of this pilot. It could be determined in what percentage of the applications the amendment was entered and in what percentage of the applications an RCE was subsequently filed.

Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement (QPIDS) FY 2012 - FY 2014

      B. NEW INITIATIVES

A new Web page initiated by the USPTO during FY 2014 is the Patent Application Initiatives (PAI) program. It is a single online location where applicants and examiners can compare the advantages of the patent programs available to applicants during various stages of prosecution. It provides detailed information that can be used to evaluate the various programs and is displayed as both a timeline as well as a matrix (grid) to provide different ways of considering the programs. Since the external launch in September of 2013, the Web page has received over 35,000 visitors. The internal site was launched in June of 2014 to include additional examiner information, including items such as time codes reported by examiners on their time sheets. This tool is a very valuable consolidated view of what programs might be available to an applicant at any point in time and represents a major step forward in presenting a picture of the many programs which have been developed. The PPAC recommends the use of the tool and congratulates the USPTO on its creation.

In conjunction with the AFCP 2.0, additional training was provided to examiners, which may assist in making that program more effective.

Some additional initiatives that are being developed include internal USPTO advanced training in after final practice and compact prosecution, how to effectively review an application, how to better identify allowable subject matter, and continuing one-on-one training for those examiners with a large number of RCEs. Additionally, the USPTO is targeting claim construction training for practitioners. All of these training initiatives should provide value and assist in the reduction of RCEs. The effort does take actions from both the examiners and the practitioners to speed prosecution to conclusion. It is believed that both examiners and practitioners could benefit from training on claim construction. Practitioners could benefit from a better understanding of how examiners view claims in the broadest reasonable interpretation, and examiners could benefit from training about what is a broadest reasonable interpretation.

Significant progress has been made on RCE backlogs and much creative thinking has been advanced by the RCE team—Andrew Faile (Deputy Commissioner for Patents), Remy Yucel, Dan Sullivan, Bonnie Eyler, and Kathy Matecki—with support and encouragement by the management of the USPTO, Michelle Lee (Deputy Under Secretary) and Peggy Focarino (Commissioner for Patents). These continuing efforts are vital to providing success and represent a constructive dialog with both the PPAC and the public in finding programs and solutions that assist applicants and the USPTO.

The reduction in the RCE backlog from a high of 110,000 in March of 2013 to 46,441 at the end of FY 2014 represents a significant achievement, and the PPAC applauds this effort and result. Implementation of various programs, including the AFCP 2.0, PAI, and QPIDs, demonstrates leadership and flexibility in identifying multiple approaches to the problem. Continuing to find ways to improve and modify the initiatives, along with new ones, is critical to the successful reduction of RCEs. The deployment of the PAI to educate the public on the availability of the multitude of programs is especially noteworthy. Continued training for examiners, supervisors, and practitioners to increase understanding of proper rejections and how to work together more effectively can only assist these efforts.

The progress to date is worthy of praise, but there are always ways to make additional improvements, and the PPAC looks forward to continuing the dialog with the USPTO and providing help and suggestions to find ways to get to allowance faster and reduce the need for RCEs.

      C. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC recommends that RCEs be returned to the amended docket because they are actually amended applications, not new applications. Alternatively, because PTA begins accruing at four months, the USPTO should set a goal for completion of RCEs within four months of filing. This should not be an average but rather a goal for completion of all RCEs within that timeframe. PTA should not be granted in these applications, and efforts should be made to reduce the gap in prosecution in the “continued examination” applications. Additionally, RCEs should be segregated from the serialized filings and identified separately in the count of new applications because, in fact, they are not new applications but continued prosecution under the same serial number.

The PPAC recommends that the AFCP 2.0 be made permanent and that efforts be made for the consideration of more amendments after final. For example, an amendment incorporating two dependent claims into an independent claim should not be considered as requiring a new search. While that exact claim was not previously presented, it is hard to understand how the concepts of those claims were not searched and art relevant to each claim was not uncovered in most situations. Encouraging the entry of modest amendments to the claims would help reduce the need for RCEs.

The PPAC recommends providing more alternatives rather than the filing of RCEs during prosecution. Increasingly, applications require more than one response in order to reach allowable subject matter. Providing the opportunity of the entry of two responses as a matter of right in each application and/or providing an option for paying for the consideration of one more amendment after a final rejection could assist both applicants and the USPTO.

The PPAC recommends that the USPTO permit applicants to participate in an interview in the pre-appeal brief conference and/or the appeal conference. It is believed that having the opportunity to make arguments in person in real time to respond to positions taken by the Office would reduce the need for RCEs and appeals to the PTAB. Also, it seems that even more understanding by the Office and practitioners of the invention and prior art occurs when there are supervisors present in the interviews, leading to more significant advancement of the prosecution towards agreement. Thus, providing these interview opportunities with the examiner, a supervisor, and in some instances, another senior person, would assist the USPTO and applicants in finding resolution in the cases without the need for an RCE or appeal. This is a desired outcome from all perspectives. It appears that the investment of more time for these interviews would pay dividends in the reduction of overall work for examiners and the PTAB, making it a wise investment. A pilot with a fee could be developed for such a program to test the outcomes.

The USPTO should evaluate the count system and what behaviors it is incentivizing. For example, since the change in counts that now provides credit for the completion of a final rejection, has the incidence of final rejections increased? Are there ways to incentivize more consideration of amendments after final to offset the incentives (more counts for examiner production available in the RCE) that may push for the filing of an RCE? How often do final rejections cite new prior art identified by examiners, particularly prior art which was also applicable to the claims as filed?

The PPAC recommends that efforts be made to target and examine the oldest RCEs, particularly the large number older than 24 months.

IV. HUMAN CAPITAL

      A. INTRODUCTION

The value in an organization comes from its people, and the Office has been fortunate to have been able to build and retain a workforce of dedicated examiners. The sequester in 2013 severely limited the Office’s ability to hire new examiners; however, with a stable budget and greater certainty moving forward, the Office has been able to increase the number of new hires in FY 2014 and return to its hiring goals for 2015 and beyond. During FY 2013, due in significant part to budget constraints, only 559 new examiners were hired instead of a planned 1000, representing a significant decrease from the 1507 new examiners hired during FY 2012. Furthermore, the planned hiring of 1500 examiners in FY 2014 had been reduced in the President’s Budget to 250. The impact of stable funding resulted in the hiring of 964 new examiners in FY 2014 and a goal of adding 400-600 new examiners in 2015. Furthermore, the Office saw a decrease in the attrition rate between 2013 and 2014. In FY 2013, the attrition rate was 3.94%, and in 2014 that rate decreased to 3.39%, a nearly 14% decrease during a time where there is an improving economy and higher job demand. This is largely due to the positive work environment that resulted in the Office being named the #1 Best Place to Work in the Federal Government in 2013 (see http://www.uspto.gov/news/pr/2013/13-40.jsp).

The Office continues to look for examiners with previous patent experience. The Office anticipated that such experienced patent professionals would require less training and thus would have the ability to start examining patent applications sooner. Of the 868 new examiners hired, 33 are experienced patent professionals. Over the past three years, the Office has added 232 experienced examiners to the Corps.

In 2012, the first Satellite Office in Detroit, Michigan, opened for business. In addition to the first satellite office in Detroit, Michigan, there is now a permanent satellite office open in Denver, Colorado, and temporary offices in Silicon Valley, California, and Dallas, Texas. The hiring holds that were placed on these new offices during the sequester have been lifted and a total of 137 examiners and 47 judges have been hired. An additional 112 examiners are expected to be hired for these offices in 2015:

 Satellite Office 

 Examiners 

 Judges 

 2015 Expected Hire 

 Detroit 

 74 

 8 

 0 

 Denver 

 63 

 9 

 37 

 Silicon Valley 

 0 

 19 

 50 

 Dallas 

 0 

 11 

 25 

The PPAC recommends continuing to target experienced patent professionals for the available new examiner positions and to advance distributed workforce initiatives to attract a larger pool of well-qualified candidates and further enhance retention of experienced examiners for an entire career.

      B. EXAMINER HIRING AND RETENTION

After hiring only 538 examiners in 2013, the Office, due to stable funding, was able to hire an additional 964 examiners in 2014, of which 33 were experienced IP professionals. The attrition rate decreased from 3.94% to 3.39% and can be attributed largely to the positive work environment. By comparison, the attrition rate just five years ago (FY 2009) was 6.3% (5.6% excluding transfers and retirees). While the Office continues to focus on a number of initiatives to increase retention and employee satisfaction, it is also important to note that the attrition rate is historically lower during more challenging economic conditions. Accordingly, the PPAC recommends that the Office continue to focus on initiatives to further reduce attrition and keep experienced, productive examiners.

 Fiscal Year 

 New Hire Goal 

 Actual New 

 Hires 

 Examiner 

 Attrition 

 Total Number of 

 Examiners 

 Net Change 

 (Year-Over-Year) 

 2014 

 1000 

 964 

 276 

 8,550 

 688 

 2013 

 1000 

 559 

 373 

 7,958 

 186 

 2012 

 1500 

 1507 

 280 

 7,831 

 1,146 

 2011 

 1200 

 836 

 223 

 6,685 

 557 

 2010 

 350 

 276 

 277 

 6,128 

 -17 

The PPAC believes that it is important to continue to hire examiners and maintain the low attrition rates to allow the examiner ranks to grow to appropriate levels. The Office has set a revised goal of hiring 400-600 examiners in FY 2015, to enable it to reduce the backlog and meet its continued operating goals.

Attracting and maintaining a skilled corps of examiners is also effective in reducing the learning curve of examination of applications and reducing backlog. The PPAC strongly recommends that the Office be provided stable funding to hire enough examiners to maintain appropriate levels in FY 2015 and beyond.

      C. EFFECTS OF UNCERTAINTY VERSUS STABILITY IN BUDGETS ON HIRING

Funding, and specifically the sequester, had a substantial impact on hiring during FY 2013.

Roughly 80% of the Office’s budget is non-discretionary (payroll and overhead), and the Office’s ability to react to the sequester was therefore limited. As a result, during FY 2013, the Office needed to significantly reduce its hiring goals. Only 538 new examiners were hired in FY 2013, falling far short of the original goal of hiring 1500 new examiners. In addition, there were no hires in three of the four new satellite offices, nor were there any plans to hire for these offices in FY 2014.

With stable funding in place for FY 2014, a dramatic improvement was achieved, resulting in 964 new examiners hired, including 137 examiners hired for the satellite offices.

Illustrated below is the impact of hiring on pendency to first action:

Impact of hiring on pendency to first action

      D. INITIATIVES TO INCREASE EXAMINATION CAPACITY

In light of the recent budget constraints, the Office has instituted and furthered a number of initiatives to make the most of its current Examiner Corps. Several of these initiatives are described below:

  1. Develop Hiring of Experienced Patent Professionals

During FY 2010, the Office initiated a new hiring model to encourage individuals with previous patent experience to apply for a position as a patent examiner. This model was intended to place more emphasis on recruiting candidates with significant patent experience while previous hiring focused more on technical background/experience. The hope is that experienced patent professionals would require less training and thus would have the ability to start examining patent applications sooner.

Since 2010, the Office has consistently been able to hire experienced patent professionals. In FY 2014, the Office added 33 on top of the 199 it had already hired in the past two years. Since this program began, the Office has added 388 new examiners with previous patent experience. The PPAC encourages the Office to continue with this program.

  2. Target Overtime and Backlog Areas

The Office has used overtime and awards as an efficient way to manage its workload and reduce the backlog of applications in addition to new examiner hires. With stable funding in FY 2014, the Office was able to use overtime to help reduce the backlog. The PPAC believes that continued judicious use of overtime and incentives can be helpful in reducing the backlog of applications.

  3. Nationwide Workforce

The Office has been successful in developing a nationwide workforce. The USPTO’s workforce consists of employees that work at locations other than the Alexandria headquarters, thus allowing employees to choose where they desire to live. This segment of USPTO employees either participates in the Patents Hoteling Program (PHP) or works from the USPTO satellite offices in Detroit, Denver, Silicon Valley, or Dallas.

There are currently 3,897 examiners that participate in the PHP. This group is comprised of two segments: employees whose worksite is within 50 miles from the Alexandria campus and those with a worksite greater than 50 miles from the Alexandria campus. Currently, 59.4% of eligible examiners and 47.3% of all examiners work remotely in the hoteling program. This represents a slight increase over 2013.

The PPAC recommends that the Office continue to support, promote, and expand the PHP, which permits examiners to work from remote locations. It also strongly recommends that systems be put in place to properly manage this program to measure productivity and monitor potential abuse.

Further, the PPAC continues to support the Telework Enhancement Act Pilot Program (TEAPP) that provides more flexibility regarding employee travel requirements. TEAPP began in January 2012, and participation was limited to 25% of full-time teleworkers (hotelers). In July 2013, the TEAPP Oversight Committee reached agreement with the three bargaining units to expand the participation level in the pilot program to 25% of all employees eligible for the PHP (i.e., GS12 and above).  As of the end of the third quarter, the 25% of eligible employees represented 1,605 participation slots for TEAPP. The Office currently has 1,547 participants and 58 slots remaining to be assigned.

  4. New Programs

New programs allow employees to take law school courses and technical courses to enhance their legal and technical knowledge and allow examiner opportunities to visit companies to gain technical knowledge in their areas of expertise, which enhances their patent examination duties, and ongoing technical and legal development for examiners has been reduced.

      E. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC recommends that the Office continue to receive stable funding to allow for the hiring of 400-600 new examiners in FY 2015. The PPAC believes that the insufficient hiring due to inadequate funding in previous years has had an impact on the Office, but that a return to stable funding will allow the Office to restore hiring goals and move the Office forward towards reducing the backlog. Additionally, the PPAC recommends continuing to target experienced IP professionals for the available new examiner positions and to advance geographical expansion of the workforce and telework initiatives to attract a larger pool of well-qualified candidates and further enhance retention of experienced examiners for an entire career.

V. PATENT QUALITY

      A. INTRODUCTION

The issuance of high quality patents with a reasonable pendency remains the most important priority for the USPTO. Stakeholders must be able to rely on the validity of issued patents. Applicants benefit from timely decisions and from obtaining patent rights while the invention is commercially viable in the marketplace.

The USPTO made positive strides in patent quality during FY 2014. The USPTO has identified at least three facets to world class patent examination quality: (i) providing the best work products and services at every stage of the patent process; (ii) improving stakeholder experience with the USPTO based on excellent customer service; and (iii) engaging stakeholders in partnership to educate and seek input. Below is a list of quality improvement initiatives that directly relate to each of these three facets.

      B. WORK PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

  1. Quality Assurance

The USPTO undertook efforts in 2014 to improve the measurement of patent examination quality through various initiatives. The USPTO is renewing its focus on reducing re-work by emphasizing quality early in the examination process, expanding information collected during the review of examiners’ work product, and feeding review data back into the examination process at the earliest stage. For example, the USPTO is increasing the number of focused reviews conducted by the Office of Patent Quality Assurance and is measuring the impact of training in order to continue to refine and improve examiner training. The USPTO is also evaluating and refining the Patent Quality Composite measure. As part of this effort, the USPTO will hold a series of roadshows in the future to gather stakeholder input regarding refining patent quality measures to better reflect current goals and meet stakeholder needs.

  2. Legal Training

The USPTO has implemented a multi-phased legal refresher training program for all examiners that focuses on evaluating functional claiming and improving the clarity of the examination record. During the past year, the USPTO has completed four training modules related to functional claiming and is currently implementing the fifth training module. Over the next several months, the USPTO plans to provide examiners with additional legal refresher training on claim interpretation and written description compliance to ensure consistency in the examination of applications and to promote clear and complete written records that will lead to higher quality issued patents.

  3. Technical Training

The USPTO is expanding its Patent Examiner Technical Training Program (PETTP) to provide patent examiners with direct access to experts from industry and academics who can share their technical knowledge on prior art and industry standards in areas of emerging and established technologies. The expansion of the PETTP includes simplifying the process to solicit and review training offers from experts and developing a publicity campaign to enhance awareness of, and increase participation in, the PETTP.

  4. Crowd Sourcing Prior Art

The USPTO is expanding ways for the public to help examiners determine whether an invention is patentable by finding relevant prior art through the use of crowd sourcing. Based on stakeholder input, the USPTO has implemented a multi-faceted approach that includes: (i) evaluating the AIA third-party prior art submission process to determine how to increase volume and improve the quality of these submissions; (ii) updating examiner guidance and training to empower examiners to more effectively use crowd sourcing to locate prior art; and (iii) employing a Presidential Innovation Fellow to research how crowd sourcing can most effectively be used to improve patent quality. The USPTO’s crowd sourcing program will expand ways for the public to help examiners determine whether an invention is patentable by finding relevant prior art. This program is a worthy initiative.

  5. Glossary Pilot Program

The USPTO launched a Glossary Pilot Program in June 2014 designed to enhance claim clarity in software-related patent applications by gauging the use of glossaries by applicants.

  6. Information Technology Systems

The USPTO has undertaken a series of modernization initiatives to update aging infrastructure and extensively improve its information technology (IT) systems. The key component of this plan is a project called Patents End-to-End (PE2E), which is a set of IT systems aimed at streamlining the processing of patent documents and actions from their inception to their downstream archiving. PE2E will provide opportunities for enhancements to patent quality through improved search capabilities and consistency in office actions.

      C. CUSTOMER SERVICE/EXPERIENCE

  1. Interview Training

Since 2012, the USPTO has provided examiners with annual interview practice training. In 2014, the USPTO continued this training to promote discussion between examiners and applicants to ensure that issues that arise during prosecution are resolved as effectively and efficiently as possible.

  2. Pro Se / Pro Bono Program

The USPTO is developing a pilot program that will dedicate a team of specially trained patent examiners to examine pro se filed applications and work with pro se applicants during prosecution. In addition, the USPTO is planning to allocate additional staff dedicated to assisting pro se applicants in preparing and filing patent applications. As explained in more detail in the Pro Bono Program and Bar Association Engagement section of this report, the USPTO also hired a pro bono coordinator to expand the Pro Bono Program, which helps pro se applicants secure an attorney to represent them before the USPTO, to all regions in the United States.

  3. Customer Support Call Centers

The USPTO has numerous call centers that provide patent information and services to applicants and the public, including independent inventors, small businesses, and university-affiliated inventors. The call centers assist stakeholders with questions relating to how to file a patent application, fees, prosecution-related issues, petitions, and publishing. Employees at these call centers regularly undergo customer service training to ensure stakeholders are provided the highest quality customer service. A representative from the USPTO’s call centers spoke at multiple PPAC meetings in 2014.

  4. Patents Ombudsman Program

This program enhances the USPTO’s ability to assist applicants, such as independent inventors and small businesses, or their representatives with issues that arise during patent application prosecution. More specifically, when there is a breakdown in the normal application process, including before and after prosecution, the Patents Ombudsman Program can assist to ensure the application is on the right track. The PPAC supports the use of the Patents Ombudsman Program as it enhances the USPTO’s ability to assist applicants with issues that arise during patent application prosecution. The PPAC is in the process of requesting information from the USPTO with respect to how often this program is used. Stakeholders have raised concerns of retribution from examiners if applicants involve the Patent Ombudsman and complain about the quality or speed of patent prosecution.

  5. Customer Satisfaction Surveys

The USPTO conducts multiple surveys to measure satisfaction of applicants and practitioners with patent examination quality and to gather feedback from stakeholders on how well the USPTO is meeting the needs of the users it serves. Feedback from these surveys helps the USPTO make the necessary adjustments to continue to provide high quality service to its stakeholders.

      D. PUBLIC OUTREACH/EDUCATION

  1. Stakeholder Partnerships/Outreach

The USPTO has formed several partnerships with the stakeholder community to provide opportunities to bring stakeholders and the USPTO together to share ideas, feedback, experiences, and insight on patent related issues arising in specific technology areas. For example, during the past two years, the USPTO held well-attended Software Partnership meetings covering topics on functional claiming, glossaries, prior art, and crowd sourcing. The USPTO has also conducted outreach meetings with a number of trade associations, business groups, advocacy organizations, and other interested parties to provide an update on how the White House’s Executive Actions are being implemented and to facilitate discussions related to patent reform.

  2. Roadshows and Other Public Meetings

The USPTO held a public forum in May 2014 to receive public feedback from organizations and individuals on the USPTO’s recently issued subject matter eligibility guidance. The USPTO also conducted roundtables on the AIA trials (see http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/bpai/ptab_aia_trial_roundtables_2014.jsp) and roadshows on AIA FITF (see http://www.uspto.gov/aia_implementation/roadshow.jsp). As noted above, the USPTO plans to hold multiple roadshows over the coming months to collect stakeholder input on refining patent quality measures to better reflect current goals and meet stakeholder needs.

      E. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC commends the Office for adopting the three-facet approach and other programs aimed at advancing world class patent examination quality. However, the PPAC continues to remain concerned with the quality of examination as some stakeholders do not believe that examiners conduct a complete, initial search based on the scope of the claims in the initial patent applications. In addition, stakeholders have expressed concern that, even if a complete search is conducted by an examiner, the examiner is not properly applying the art to the application’s claims. Therefore, the PPAC recommends that the USPTO continue to provide training to examiners to have them conduct a complete initial search and to correctly apply the prior art to the claims.

The PPAC commends the additional examiner training being provided by the USPTO and recommends that the claim interpretation training section focus on, among other things, the “broadest reasonable interpretation standard” for interpreting claims.

The PPAC requests that the USPTO continue to review the examination process to consider ways to avoid a patent application from going to “final” status prematurely. For example, examiners should issue a second non-final office action if the prior art references cited in the second office action were not previously cited in the first office action if only minor changes were made in an amendment in response to the first non-final office action. In addition, the USPTO should consider ways to improve the quality of final rejections and ways to increase the consideration of after-final amendments. The USPTO should consider further changes to the AFCP 2.0 as it appears that a significant number of examiners are not considering the after-final amendment and are simply issuing an advisory action as a matter of course.

With respect to the USPTO’s Glossary Pilot Program, the program is relatively new, so the PPAC has not been able to determine its effectiveness. However, the PPAC recommends that the USPTO continue to improve claim clarity through additional training and proper application of the patent laws including Section 112.

The USPTO has been reviewing its patent quality composite index. The PPAC recommends that the USPTO use the actual numbers, rather than a percentage of the established target, in determining patent quality during the different stages of the examination process. The PPAC recommends against the continued reliance on the quality composite index as a bellwether of patent quality because the index may be misleading to the public. For example, the USPTO’s Dashboard includes eight quality-related measures, one of which is directed to a quality index report score of 91.3%, which would lead the public to believe an extremely high quality level is being maintained. The PPAC notes that, in more than 35% of applications that have been finally rejected and undergo review in the pre-appeal or appeal conference, the applications are either allowed or reopened for further prosecution. This means that the USPTO determined that, in more than 35% of applications going to pre-appeal and/or appeal conference, the quality of examination by the initial examiner was insufficient. This insufficiency is not reflected in the 91.3% quality index score provided by the USPTO on the Dashboard. Said another way, it is difficult to reconcile such a high quality index with the significant number of final rejections that are overturned leading into the appeal process.

VI. PATENT PENDENCY

      A. INTRODUCTION

Patent pendency continues to be a topic of great interest to both the PPAC and the user community. During FY 2014, Average First Action Pendency decreased to 18.9 months and Average Total Pendency decreased to 27.5 months. The chart below shows the history of both these measures through August 31, 2014.

First Action Pendency and Total Action Pendency FY 2009 - FY 2014 (through Aunust)

Both pendency measures have showed a sustained, significant decrease since FY 2010 with a recent bump up in First Action Pendency, likely resulting from a change to the RCE count scheme and time taken for additional training, such as training for the implementation of CPC, for the examining corps. The USPTO is to be commended for the decrease seen in pendency during the last three years.

      B. DETERMINING OPTIMAL PENDENCY

The USPTO is currently in the early stages of conducting a biennial review of fees charged for services provided to the public. An important driver of the level of those fees will be the targets established for both Average First Action Pendency and Average Total Pendency in that those measures can drive staffing levels and other agency resource requirements. Increasing or decreasing pendency targets, whether they are close to being met or not, will for at least some period of time drive staff levels, assuming that there are no funding disruptions to USPTO operations. Further, pendency levels are of significant importance to those who pursue patents because the time spent obtaining patents can have a significant impact on the success and continued operation of small and growing businesses for which quality IP assets are critical to continued market funding.

Complicating the process of determining optimal patent pendency is the fact that patent seekers will have a broad spectrum of desires when it comes to how long each of them wants to wait to obtain a patent. In some technologies and markets, business desire to have a patent grant as quickly as possible. In others there is not as much pressure in this regard and, in fact, some business may be happy to have some amount of delay in the process of having a patent granted. The PPAC recognizes that balancing the interests of such a wide range of customer goals is challenging.

It is worth noting here that the term “patent pendency” in the mind of stakeholders means the total amount of time measured from the day a patent application is filed to the day a patent is granted. The pendency data provided to the public by the USPTO is a quite different measure. The Average Total Pendency measures the time to the initial final disposition of an application, which could be a final rejection or abandonment, and very often is not a granted patent. For example, the Traditional Total Pendency statistics do not include the pendency of RCEs. While the PPAC commends the USPTO on its efforts to make the pendency statistics and the link between pendency and staffing much more transparent to the PPAC during the past fiscal year, there is an ongoing need to align the pendency statistics published by the USPTO with the user community’s understanding of what these pendency statistics actually mean.

The current pendency goals of 10 months average first action pendency and 20 months average total pendency were established in the USPTO’s 2010-2015 Strategic Plan. These goals have served the public well in that we have seen significant reductions of both kinds of pendency. As part of the USPTO’s new 2014-2018 Strategic Plan, the USPTO is seeking stakeholder input on the definition of optimal patent pendency targets through a Request for Comments on Optimum First Action and Total Patent Pendency published in the Federal Register on July 9, 2014 (“the Request for Comments”). The deadline for submitting written comments addressing this issue was September 8, 2014. The PPAC commends the USPTO for seeking this input from stakeholders regarding an issue that is of great interest to everyone that pursues patents.

The PPAC had endorsed the goals of 10 months First Action Pendency and 20 months Average Total Pendency. However, averages translate to differing results from one technology area to another with some higher and some lower than the target, depending on the staffing and application levels. This means that many applications will not achieve the stated pendencies even though the USPTO on average will meet the targets, leading to uncertainty and frustration from some applicants. Consequently, the PPAC believes different targets may be more appropriate than the arbitrary 10 and 20 months current goals.

The PPAC believes a focus on the targets established by Congress in the American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA) has a number of benefits, including a reduction in the amount of PTA granted in patents. The PTA provisions of the AIPA set up examination timeframes referred to as “14-4-4-4-36,” as explained in more detail in the Request for Comments. Because transparency and increased certainty assist agencies and the public, focusing on reducing PTA is a good approach and also good public policy. These congressionally-mandated timeframes target most timeframes of prosecution and would help drive the examination of most applications. Prioritizing the examination of applications based on the amount of PTA that would accrue would ensure handling of all applications without allowing the targeting of any area or type of application while other applications are allowed to develop significant backlogs as occurred with the RCEs. These AIPA targets also would provide greater certainty to applicants and the public for actual expectations on examination timeframes. Granting PTA should be the exception, not a routine event. An overall focus on reducing the amount of PTA is suggested.

The PPAC looks forward to reviewing with the USPTO the comments received in response to the Federal Register notice and supports efforts to reduce patent pendency where it makes sense and does not have a deleterious effect on patent quality. The PPAC also would like to provide its input for some of the questions contained in the Request for Comments. First, the Request for Comments asked if First Action Pendency or Total Pendency targets should be met by nearly all applications rather than the current approach, which measures average pendency. For example, a pendency goal could be established that would be met by 90% or 95% of all applications. The PPAC generally supports this as a potential approach because meeting such a goal may likely result in an average pendency that is improved over that observed today. It is believed that combining percentages, such as 90% or 95% of applications, with the AIPA PTA timeframes would be improved goals. In addition to ensuring that X% of applications will receive a first action within 14 months, these targets should include an upper limit for achievement of the targets. For example, there should also be a target, such as, no more than 5% of the applications will receive a first action later than 18 or 22 months. Similar targets should be set for Traditional Total Pendency of three years including X% of applications completed within three years and an upper limit of no more than X % being completed within four years. These targets should be adjusted after two years to improved performance.

Addressing another question posed by the Request for Comments, the PPAC believes that a single pendency target is desirable for all Technology Centers. It is natural that some TCs will tend to have different average pendency than others for any number of understandable reasons; however, that difference is better addressed by targeted resource allocation or other pendency steps to address particular TCs. The PPAC does not believe that stakeholders who operate in technology areas where patent prosecution is perhaps inherently more complicated than others should have to live with a different, less desirable pendency goal. A difference in pendency between TCs that is not significant is likely an acceptable state of affairs.

However, a fruitful step towards both reducing PTA and pendency would be to reduce the backlog of RCE applications whose waiting time has been a significant contributor to granted PTA. Even though RCEs are amended applications, they do not appear on the examiner’s amended dockets and currently do not have a set time goal for examination. PTA begins to accrue four months after the request for an RCE. The USPTO should return RCEs to the amended docket or at the very least establish a goal for examining RCEs. This goal could align with the PTA goal of completing amended applications within four months. This would better serve applicants in continuing the discussion with the examiner in a more timely fashion and assist the USPTO in maintaining a more manageable backlog of RCEs.

There is also a potential concern arising from a reduction in first action pendency to 10 months relating to increasing uncertainty in the patenting process. This concern includes the potential for the existence of “hidden” prior art if office actions are issued before patent applications are published. The PPAC believes that this concern is valid one and that this issue should be taken into account in the setting of any new first action pendency goal.

      C. PENDENCY INITIATIVES

The USPTO has launched multiple initiatives to address the growing backlog of RCE applications, which efforts should all help improve patent pendency, including the following:

After Final Consideration Pilot
Track One (Prioritized Examination)
Patent Prosecution Highway

The PPAC commends the USPTO for supporting these initiatives and reiterates its recommendations concerning them as outlined in the FY 2013 PPAC annual report as well as the comments/recommendations contained in the RCE section of this report. The PPAC urges the USPTO to continue to investigate new avenues for promoting these programs to the stakeholder community and looks forward to supporting this effort going forward.

      D. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC urges the USPTO to publish pendency data that actually reflects the entirety of time required from the date of filing to the time a patent grants. Current Traditional Total Pendency does not take into account the oftentimes very long period required for action on RCEs. The USPTO should also report the Traditional Total Pendency including RCEs in their numbers, rather than just on the Web site Dashboard.

The PPAC recommends the establishment of a goal for the completion of RCEs of four months absolute, rather than an average, to provide reduced PTA, faster service for the increased fees now charged for RCEs, and more certainty on timing of examination.

The PPAC recommends establishing pendency goals linked to the PTA timeframes established by Congress and focusing on reducing PTA overall. This is good public policy and provides more concrete expectations for the timing of examination of applications.

The PPAC looks forward to working with the USPTO to review the input from the Request for Comments and develop initiatives that address patent pendency. These steps will be closely tied to initiatives directed to improving patent quality and addressing the RCE backlog.

VII. PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD

      A. INTRODUCTION

The AIA established the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or Board) on September 16, 2012. The Chief Judge of the PTAB is James Donald Smith. The Board’s responsibilities include: reviewing adverse decisions from examiners upon applications for patents pursuant to section 134(a); reviewing reexamination appeals pursuant to section 134(b); conducting derivation proceedings pursuant to section 135; and conducting covered business method (CBM) patent reviews, inter partes review (IPRs), and post-grant reviews (PGRs) pursuant to section 18 of the AIA and chapters 31 and 32 of Title 35, United States Code. The Board also continues to decide patent interferences pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 135.

      B. BOARD STAFF

At the end of FY 2014, the Board includes 214 judges. Each of the satellite offices includes PTAB judges. More specifically, the Dallas office has 11 judges, the Silicon Valley office has 19 judges, the Denver office has nine judges, and the Detroit office has eight judges. The placement of these satellite offices around the country has expanded the ability of the Board to employ qualified individuals to meet the growing workload faced by the PTAB. The Board continues to review candidates and plans on hiring additional judges in FY 2015. The PTAB Web site includes helpful links to an administrative patent judge recruiting brochure and to allow applicants to apply on line.

      C. BOARD STATISTICS

The backlog of ex parte appeals pending at the Board stands at 25,658 applications as of September 30, 2014. The backlog averaged about 25,800 applications for the year. The trend was relatively flat for the year, with the peak reaching 26,208 applications in January 2014 and the lowest levels reaching 25,594 in July 2014. The Board will need to “think out of the box” when it comes to considering new ways to decrease this backlog. In addition, according to current statistics on the PTAB Web site for FY 2013, the average pendency of an ex parte appeal is 36 months from filing the notice of appeal to final written decision. This pendency is simply too long.

The Board continues to implement a per curiam process, whereby certain appeals can be decided based on arguments by the examiners or appellants in the written record. These per curiam decisions are shorter and generally disposed faster than other appellate decisions. In FY 2012, the PTAB issued 142 per curiam decisions; in FY 2013, the PTAB issued 136 per curiam decisions; in FY 2014, the PTAB issued 122 per curiam decisions. The PPAC recommends continued use of per curiam decisions, but emphasizes that the written record must sufficiently explain the facts and law in the case.

The Board has affirmed or affirmed-in-part 67%, reversed 30%, and remanded or dismissed about 3% of the examiner’s decisions. These statistics are consistent with the affirmance, reversal, and remand/dismissal rates of previous years. In addition, the PPAC is encouraged by the low numbers of remands and dismissals, which indicate that the Patent Examining Corps provides complete examiner’s answers to the PTAB.

      D. AIA PROGRESS

As of September 30, 2014, the Board received 2,082 total petitions since inception of the AIA: 1,841 IPR proceedings, 233 CBM proceedings, two PGR proceedings, and six derivation proceedings. The majority of the petitions were in the electrical/computer software area. In particular, the petition filings by area of technology were: 71.6% electrical/computer software; 15.6% mechanical; 6.8% chemical; 5.6% biotechnology/pharmaceutical; and 0.4% design. With respect to IPRs and CBMs, patent owners have submitted 1,057 preliminary responses and waived their rights to submit a preliminary response in 265 cases. The PPAC is pleased with the patent owner’s usage of preliminary responses and waivers as these options were not available in ex parte and inter partes reexamination proceedings. In addition, 236 petitions have been settled in FY 2014. The PPAC also finds the use of settlements encouraging as this option was not available in ex parte and inters partes reexamination proceedings. Lastly, the PTAB has issued 129 final written decisions in IPR proceedings and 13 in CBM proceedings.

The PTAB continued to be busy in FY 2014, receiving a peak of 190 IPR/CBM petitions in June 2014. A comparison of the number of PTAB petitions to district court filings involving patent litigations in 2013 highlights this point. The PTAB received 1,494 petitions from September 2013 to September 30, 2014; in all of 2013, 1511 complaints were filed in the Eastern District of Texas, 1335 in the District of Delaware, 408 in the Central District of California, and 248 in the northern District of California. The number of PTAB filings in FY 2014 was 1,494, thereby putting the PTAB ahead of all but one of the federal district courts in terms of patent disputes that they are handling.

      E. AIA ROUNDTABLES AND FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICE

The PPAC commends the PTAB for its outreach efforts in 2014. In particular, the PTAB hosted eight roundtables around the country in April and May 2014 to share information about the AIA trials including statistics, lessons learned, and techniques for successful motions practice. The Board received feedback about the trials and featured a panel discussion to elicit public input. At each roundtable, administrative patent judges participated and were available for questions and conversation.

The eight locations and dates that the PTAB Roundtables were held include:

i.Alexandria, VA, April 15, USPTO Headquarters;
ii.New York City, NY, April 17, New York Law School;
ii.Chicago, IL, April 22, Chicago Public Library;
iv.Detroit, MI, April 24, Cooley Law School;
v.Silicon Valley, CA, April 29, Santa Clara University;
vi.Seattle, WA, May 1, University of Washington;
vii.Dallas, TX, May 6, Dallas Bar Association; and
viii.Denver, CO, May 8, Colorado Bar Association.

The USPTO recorded the Alexandria, VA Web cast and made it available on the PTAB Web site at https://new.livestream.com/uspto/PTABAIA. The PPAC found this helpful and supports the continuation of recording and making available the roundtables, Web casts, and other public meetings on the USPTO Web site.

In addition to the eight PTAB roundtables, the USPTO issued a Federal Register notice dated June 27, 2014, titled Request for Comments on Trial Proceedings Under the America Invents Act Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The Federal Register notice included two parts, one directed to non-rule comments; and a second directed to 17 questions posed by the PTAB to elicit feedback with respect to certain AIA trial rules. Comments from the public were due on September 16, 2014. The USPTO extended this deadline to October 16, 2014.

In an effort to ensure stakeholders understood the June Federal Register notice, Ms. Gongola and Vice Chief Judge Scott Boalick reviewed the notice and 17 questions therein during a Webinar on July 29, 2014. The Webinar was very helpful.

In response to stakeholders’ concerns at the PTAB roundtables, the PTAB posted an article on its Web site dated May 5, 2014, titled “How to Make Successful Claim Amendments in an AIA Trial Proceeding.” This article was posted on the PTAB Web site in response to the PPAC’s and stakeholders’ concerns that only one claim amendment has been allowed by the PTAB in two years.

      F. OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT

The U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General (OIG), released a report on July 28, 2014. In the report, the OIG reported that it conducted an investigation into allegations provided by anonymous whistleblowers that PTAB paralegals were receiving pay for time not worked over a prolonged period of time. The PPAC discussed this report with Chief Judge Smith before and during the August PPAC meeting. The PPAC appreciates the changes that the Office has made in response to this report, as well as in response to a July 10, 2013, USPTO investigative report on this matter, and looks forward to further updates from the USPTO and the PTAB on progress in this area.

      G. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC applauds the PTAB for the work it has done since the passage of the AIA in September 2011. As evidenced by the record 190 IPR/CBM petitions filed in June 2014, the PTAB proceedings have quickly become a critical aspect of the U.S. patent system. This is especially true in light of recent statistics indicating that more than 80% of the PTAB proceedings involve patents that are involved in parallel district court litigation. The PTAB is extremely busy, not only with new petitions being filed but also with pending cases that need active involvement from the PTAB judges. The pending cases also include ex parte and former inter partes reexamination appeals.

A primary challenge facing the PTAB is hiring additional PTAB judges to handle the increased AIA trials’ workflow while allowing judges to continue working on ex parte appeals. The USPTO has been able to handle this effectively because the USPTO has the money to hire the additional judges. As a result, although the AIA petitions have increased significantly, the PTAB has not exceeded the one-year time period from the institution of the PTAB decision to issuing the final written opinion in any AIA trials. In addition, the ex parte appeals backlog continued to decrease in 2014. The PPAC commends the PTAB for these achievements but recommends that the PTAB remain vigilant in hiring PTAB judges and explore other ways to handle the increased AIA workflow and to decrease the ex parte appeals backlog.

Stakeholders will be anxiously awaiting the PTAB’s response to the feedback received during the PTAB roundtables and comments with respect to the June 2014 Federal Register notice. The PPAC looks forward to playing a constructive role in this process. The Federal Register notice listed 17 questions related to the PTAB rules. During the PTAB roundtables, the PTAB placed particular emphasis on question 14 as it is related to the one-year period for the PTAB to issue a final written decision. The PPAC notes that the AIA requires only a “good cause” showing to go beyond the one-year timeframe; the “good cause” standard is much lower than, for example, an “exceptional” standard. For this reason, the PPAC does not believe the PTAB should be reluctant to exceed the one-year threshold if there is “good cause” for doing so. Based on the concerns raised with multiple proceedings in questions 7-13 of the Federal Register notice, it appears that there are several cases currently before the PTAB involving multiple proceedings. If this is true, the complexity of such multiple proceedings may be “good cause” to expand the timeframe past the one-year period.

The PPAC also notes that question two of the Federal Register notice is related to the PTAB claim amendment practice. We commend the PTAB for providing the helpful presentations and mock teleconferences with the PTAB judges during the PTAB roundtables with respect to the PTAB claim amendment practice. In addition, the PPAC recognizes that the PTAB provided an article on its Web site from Vice Chief Judge Boalick on May 5, 2014, titled “How to Make Successful Claim Amendments in an AIA Trial Proceeding.” However, even after taking into consideration these laudable efforts, the PPAC remains concerned that only one motion to amend has been granted in two years. We recommend that the USPTO be more flexible in the PTAB claims amendment practice to make such amendments more available to patent owners.

With respect to ex parte appeals, the PPAC is pleased that the backlog continues to decline. However, the average pendency of such appeals is three years from filing the notice of appeal. This pendency is simply too long.

The USPTO has successfully used pilot programs during the past couple of years to determine if some procedural changes are beneficial to the patent process. The PPAC recommends that the USPTO consider implementing some pilot programs to expedite review of the pending appeals. The pilot programs may include allowing the patent owner or anonymous third party to pay a fee to expedite the review of the pending appeal and changing the pre-appeal brief and/or appeal conference program to allow applicants to participate in the review.

VIII. LEGISLATION

      A. INTRODUCTION

Legislative activity in the latter part of the 113th Congress (2013-14) focused on consideration of proposals to address allegedly abusive patent infringement litigation practices and the mass mailing of vague settlement demand letters to main street businesses.

The House passed H.R. 3309, the “Innovation Act,” introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman Goodlatte, on a bipartisan vote of 325–91 on December 5, 2013. The comprehensive bill, as passed, included provisions that would:

Heighten pleading requirements
Require patent owner litigants to disclose the “Real Party in Interest”
Enhance fee-shifting under 35 USC 285
Create a Manufacturer’s Stay Provision
Limit discovery before Markman claim construction hearings
Direct the Judicial Conference to consider/issue rules related to discovery
Clarify law as it relates to treatment of intellectual property in bankruptcy cases
Extend term of patent cases pilot from 10 to 20 years
Require various studies
Direct the USPTO to develop educational resources for small business
Change Post-Grant estoppel provision when appealing to the Federal Circuit
Make technical changes and clarifications relating to “Inventor’s Oath or Declaration,” patent term adjustment and double patenting.

Senate action on a companion bill, S. 1720, the “Patent Transparency and Improvements Act,” stalled in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Chairman Leahy, the sponsor of bill, announced on May 21, 2014, that the bill would be removed from the committee’s legislative agenda. The bill had been scheduled for committee consideration on May 22, 2014. In his statement announcing the removal, Chairman Leahy cited the inability to achieve the “broad bipartisan support” necessary to get a bill through the Senate. He added that “Regrettably, competing companies on both sides of this issue refused to come to agreement on how to achieve that goal.”

The primary areas of disagreement among stakeholders focus on patent infringement litigation issues involving: heightened pleading requirements; limits on discovery; and a fee-shifting loser pays attorney’s fees system. Many high tech firms and other businesses pushed for strong reforms along these lines, arguing it would reduce abusive patent litigation practices, while other high-tech companies (including smaller firms and start-ups and others), drug companies, universities and others objected to some of the proposed reforms, concerned that they went too far, and would serve to devalue patents and make it harder for patent owners to enforce and/or license their patent rights.

Chairman Leahy indicated in his statement that there would be a path for passage of the bill in 2014 “if stakeholders are able to reach a more targeted agreement that focuses on the problem of patent trolls.” Given Sen. Leahy’s action and the tight congressional schedule for the rest of the year, it is unlikely that a comprehensive legislation moves forward in this Congress.

However, it is possible that narrowly crafted legislation addressing abusive “demand letters” may move forward. A draft bill, captioned “Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act,” was approved by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on July 10, 2014. Similar provisions are contained in S.2049, the “Transparency in the Assertion of Patents Act,” which is currently stalled in the Senate Commerce Committee.

There has been significant activity at the state level on the abusive demand letter issue. More than a dozen states have adopted legislation to regulate bad-faith patent demand letters and comparable legislation is pending in another dozen states. State Attorneys General have already commenced enforcement actions pursuant to the new laws.

      B. WHITE HOUSE EXECUTIVE ACTIONS

The White House announced in June 2013 a number of targeted executive actions and legislative priorities arguably to improve the patent system and protect innovators from frivolous litigation and threats of litigation. The executive actions included steps intended to ensure transparency as to patent ownership, tightening patent examiner review standards, helping small entities cope with settlement demands and litigation threats, and expanding educational outreach.

In February 2014, the White House reported on the progress made on the initial executive actions and announced three additional executive actions. The new actions, being implemented by the USPTO, involve exploring a series of measures to make it easier for the public to provide information about relevant prior art in patent applications, including refinements to the third-party submission program and effective use of crowd-sourced prior art; more robust technical training for examiners by technologists and engineers from industry and academia; and expansion of patent pro bono and pro se assistance programs to those innovators who lack the resources necessary to file and prosecute their patent applications.

The PPAC has responded to proposed actions by the USPTO regarding these executive actions and provided its guidance about them. The PPAC has expressed concerns that any changes to the obligations of applicants be balanced and reasonable, and not impose difficult burdens that do not result in real improvements in either transparency of ownership or quality of eventually issued patents.

      C. CONGRESSIONAL HEARING

On July 30, 2014, USPTO Deputy Director Michelle K. Lee testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet at a hearing titled “U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: The America Invents Act and Beyond, Domestic and International Policy Goals.” Deputy Director Lee provided a written statement that addressed a wide range of the USPTO’s programs, initiatives and other efforts to serve America’s innovators.

      D. PENDING LEGISLATION

H.R. 3309, “Innovation Act” (Rep. Goodlatte, R-VA-6) – comprehensive bill passed by House on 325-91 vote on 12/5/13.
H.R. 3349, “Innovation Protection Act” (Rep. Conyers, D‐MI‐13) – introduced 10/28/2013 – Provides the USPTO with full access to all fee collections.
S. 1612, “Patent Litigation Integrity Act” (Sen. Hatch, R‐UT) – introduced: 10/30/2013 – Requires fee shifting and bonding for plaintiffs in certain circumstances.
S. 1720, “Patent Transparency and Improvements Act of 2013” (Sen. Leahy, D‐VT) – introduced 11/18/2013 – comprehensive companion bill to H.R. 3309 as passed by House.
S. 2049, “Transparency in Assertion of Patents Act” (Sen. McCaskill, D‐MO) – introduced 2/26/2014 – Addresses abusive patent “demand” letters.
H.R. ___, “Targeting Rogue and Opaque Letters (TROL) Act” ‐ Draft Bill (Rep. Terry, R‐NE‐2) ‐ draft bill adopted at subcommittee on June 10, 2014 – Addresses abusive patent “demand” letters.
H.R. 4763, “Trade Protection Not Troll Protection Act” (Reps. Cardenas, D‐CA‐29 & Farenthold, R-TX‐27) – introduced 5/29/2014 – ITC Reforms; narrowing “domestic industry” requirement.

      E. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC will continue to monitor and consult with the USPTO as the legislative and administrative processes address patent quality issues and potentially abusive patent assertion activities. The PPAC recommends that the USPTO continue to engage decision makers to make sure that any proposed administrative changes are appropriately crafted and narrowly targeted without unduly harming our overall patent system, the smooth operation of the examination process, the quality of patents issued, or the overall costs and burdens to applicants. Further, the USPTO should work within the Administration and with Congress to ensure that it has access to all future fee collections regardless of any government-wide sequestration or other limitation.

IX. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND WORK SHARING

      A. THE CREATION OF THE OFFICE OF INTERNATIONAL PATENT COOPERATION

In April 2014, the USPTO announced the creation of the Office of International Patent Cooperation (OIPC). The establishment of the OIPC reflects the USPTO’s strong commitment, in concert with the stakeholder community, to make current and future improvements to the complex and costly international patent filing system.

While there have been great successes in the USPTO’s international cooperative activities over many years, including, for example, the implementation of the Patent Prosecution Highway system on a global scale, new demands (legal, procedural, and technical harmonization and reform) required this consolidation of efforts into a single organization within the USPTO. The formation of the new unit will allow for consolidated and dedicated resources from within the USPTO for addressing international initiatives. In turn, we look to the OIPC to create a cohesive and strategic approach with regard to such initiatives while at the same time seeking feedback and input from the stakeholder community.

      B. SUBSTANTIVE PATENT LAW HARMONIZATION

Progress continues in the study of substantive patent law harmonization topics by the Tegernsee Group (“the Group”).  Formed in July 2011 during a meeting held in Tegernsee, Germany, the Group is comprised of leaders and representatives from the patent offices of Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as from the European Patent Office (EPO). The Group agreed to undertake a fact finding study of four topics: 1) grace period; 2) 18 month publication; 3) the prior art effect of secret prior art; and 4) prior user rights, so as to identify areas of difference and convergence between the various patent offices. In June 2014, the Group published the “Consolidated Report on the Tegernsee User Consultation on Substantive Patent Law Harmonization” (“June 2014 Report”), which merged the results of the European surveys (i.e., Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the EPO) and summarized and analyzed the results of the user consultations in the United States, Japan and Europe on the topics set forth above. The adoption of the June 2014 Report marks the end of an intensive work cycle of fact-finding and user consultations with the Group currently on hiatus pending further developments.  

In order to take advantage of the momentum created by the Group and its fact finding, the USPTO will host a roundtable on the topic of “International Harmonization of Substantive Patent Law” in late 2014. Past studies and experiences indicate that the most relevant aspects of substantive patent law for work sharing purposes are those related to patent searching and the application of prior art during the examination process. Accordingly during the planned roundtable, the USPTO will be seeking views from the user/stakeholder community regarding the following patent examination-related issues: (i) definition and scope of prior art; (ii) grace period; and (iii) standards for the assessment of novelty and methodology for applying non-obviousness/inventive step.

      C. TECHNICAL AND PROCEDURAL HARMONIZATION: WORK SHARING AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION PROGRAMS

  1. IP5 Evolution

Recognizing the continuing evolution and growth of initiatives, a forum of the five largest patent offices (i.e., EPO, JPO, KIPO, SIPO, and USPTO (known collectively as IP5)) agreed to a program management model proposed by the USPTO. The model formalizes basic project management principles across the program which, until the adoption of this agreement, was inconsistently applied. A key element of the model requires stakeholder benefits to be clearly defined for each of the projects and calls for periodic assessment to ensure those benefits are being achieved. The assessment will be done by the Program Managers who represent the executive leadership of the IP5 offices. This seemingly simple change will ensure that resources dedicated to the program are commensurate with the value they deliver.

In June 2014 in Busan, Republic of Korea, the Deputy Heads of the IP5 offices met to discuss continued IP5 co-operation with a focus on the following initiatives:

The IP5 Patent Harmonization Experts Panel agreed to the following three issues for study: (i) unity of invention; (ii) information disclosure requirements; and (iii) written description matters.
A new IP5 Quality Working Group was formed with its scope and mandate of work being determined during the fall of 2014.
The IP5 offices are working to unify their positions on improvements to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system.

Another significant topic that was addressed by the representatives was the ongoing planning and development of the Global Dossier initiative, which is discussed in further detail below.

  2. Global Dossier Initiative

The Global Dossier initiative is a set of business services that will give users/stakeholders secure, online, one-stop access to and management of dossier information of all applications that comprise a “family” and that have been filed in multiple patent offices by establishing a common user interface to each patent office’s electronic dossier system. However, the Global Dossier is not a single IT application or system. Rather, it can be viewed as a collection of services designed to meet the business needs of multiple users/stakeholders of the patent systems of the IP5 offices. Examples of such services being developed include:

  a. Access to IP5 Offices’ Dossier Information – One Portal Dossier

The IP5 offices achieved the initial milestone of providing IP5 offices’ examiners access to the dossier information of all offices, with the next steps to be completed in the near future. The IP5 offices are currently accessing the USPTO’s file wrapper information, and USPTO examiners will have access to the dossiers of other offices with the limited deployment of PE2E to a small number of examiners scheduled for the fall of 2014. Full deployment to all examiners is currently scheduled for summer 2015.

The current schedule for public access to this information is shown in the table below:

 Classification 

 EPO 

 USPTO 

 JPO 

 SIPO 

 KIPO 

 Providing Office 

 June 2014 

 Summer 2015 

 1st half of 2015 

 June 2014 

 1st half of 2015 

 Accessing Office 

 June 2014 

 Fall 2015 

 2016 

 2015 

 2nd half of 2015 

A “Providing Office” allows the dossier information to be made available to the other patent offices and to the public. An “Accessing Office” retrieves the dossier information from the Providing Office and allows its end-users to refer to it.

  b. Cross-filing Service

The IP5 offices are in the beginning stages of defining the next service, facilitation of cross-filing, which is a high priority for U.S. users/stakeholders. The goals of cross-filing include the simultaneous submission of patent documents into all participating Offices, the ability to file all documents electronically from a single portal, auto-population of common information, and simplification and harmonization of most administrative filing functions. All parties recognize that this is a very complex service with legal, business, and technical challenges. The IP5 offices have been working with their respective industry groups and stakeholders to develop user requirements in advance of the next IP5 Working Group 2 (IT-related projects) and Global Dossier Taskforce meetings scheduled for January 2015 in Beijing, China.

The USPTO is also committed to expanding the number of patent offices participating in the Global Dossier. One means of expansion that the USPTO is exploring is to link One Portal Dossier with the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Centralized Access to Search and Examination (CASE) system. The CASE system provides dossier information for a group of patent offices known as the Vancouver Group, which is comprised of the IP offices of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The JPO has already initiated a pilot linkage to the CASE system and according to recent correspondence with the Vancouver Group, SIPO and the Israel Patent Office are participating in testing. The patent offices of Singapore, New Zealand, Vietnam and Mongolia have also joined the CASE system.

As the USPTO places more resources in the planning and development of the Global Dossier, more focus will be needed regarding global technology harmonization among the patent offices as well as greater input and feedback from the user/stakeholder community. While the Global Dossier Task Force created by the IP5 offices for stakeholder input regarding the Global Dossier has provided initial guidance, the USPTO’s OIPC needs to expand its own efforts for broader outreach to the stakeholder community regarding this important initiative.

  3. Common Citation Document

The Common Citation Document (CCD) is a tool initially proposed by the Trilateral Industry, and was launched in November 2011 at the 29th Trilateral Conference. The CCD displays a consolidated listing of references that have been cited in related international patent applications. The CCD is an example of the IP5 offices’ cooperative efforts. While the CCD was developed and is maintained by the EPO, the value of the tool requires the participation of multiple international patent offices, including the USPTO, engaged in the exchange of citation data.

A major goal of the CCD tool is to facilitate international work sharing by improving search and examination efficiency. The CCD is located on a publicly available Web site (http://ccd.fiveipoffices.org/CCD-2.0.4/) and was recently incorporated into the Examiner’s Toolkit thereby allowing the USPTO examiners to perform compact and comprehensive prosecution.

  4. Patent Prosecution Highway
  a. Overview

Since July 2006, the USPTO has partnered with several other offices in Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) programs. The PPH enables an applicant who receives a positive ruling on patent claims from one participating patent office to request accelerated prosecution of corresponding claims in another participating patent office thereby allowing the applicant to obtain a patentability decision in the second patent office more quickly. Furthermore, the PPH promotes patent application processing efficiency by allowing the examiner in the patent office of the later examination process to benefit from the search and examination results from the patent office of the earlier examination process, thereby reducing workload and duplication of efforts.

A reduction in the number of office actions, lower costs, higher issuance rates and faster examination and prosecution are several of the advantages realized by users and are the factors driving the growth of the PPH. As of July, 2014, the number of PPH requests reached 25,000 and the USPTO is receiving approximately 650 requests per month, a 13% increase over the previous fiscal year. The chart below shows new PPH requests by month since January 2010 and demonstrates the program’s continuing growth and acceptance by the patent user community.

Cumulative New Applications with PPH Petitions by Month

As the work sharing benefits provided by the PPH became more apparent, participation in the PPH program in its various forms has grown rapidly. However, modifications to the PPH program were not universally implemented by the different participating patent offices, and consequently, the administration of multiple PPH programs, each having particular requirements, became increasingly cumbersome. Recognizing the need and opportunity for greater efficiency, the USPTO and several other patent offices have consolidated and replaced existing PPH programs with the goal of streamlining the PPH process for both patent offices and applicants. This has been accomplished through the launch of a new, centralized PPH framework called the “Global PPH.”

The Global PPH Pilot was successfully launched in January 2014 by 17 patent offices: JPO (Japan), KIPO (Korea), UKIPO (United Kingdom), CIPO (Canada), IP Australia, DKPTO (Denmark), NBPR (Finland), ROSPATENT (Russia), HIPO (Hungary), SPTO (Spain), PRV (Sweden), INPI (Portugal), ILPO (Israel), NPI (Nordic), NIPO (Norway), IPO (Iceland) and the USPTO.

The USPTO also participates in the IP5 offices’ PPH Pilot program (“IP5 Pilot”). The IP5 Pilot started at the same time as the Global PPH Pilot and is virtually identical in most respects. The major difference is that EPO and SIPO in the IP5 Pilot will only accept work products from the other IP5 offices as a basis to enter the IP5 Pilot. From the USPTO’s point of view, PPH requests in the Global PPH Pilot and the IP5 Pilot are handled in the same way.

The USPTO also has bilateral PPH agreements with nine other patent offices including APO (Austria), SIC (Columbia), IPOCZ (Czech Republic), DPMA (Germany), IMPI (Mexico), NRIP (Nicaragua), IPOPH (Philippines), IPOS (Singapore) and TIPO (Taiwan).

  b. Patent Cooperation Treaty – Work Sharing

Since its inception in FY 2011, PCT-PPH has become a contributing force to the increased growth of the overall PPH program. For over one year, the majority of new PPH requests at the USPTO have been filed via the PCT-PPH work sharing route. The USPTO continues on its expansion strategy and in January 2014 most of the USPTO’s PCT-PPH agreements were superseded by the Global and IP5 PPH programs.

The USPTO has recently concluded the second phase of a Collaborative Search and Examination Pilot Program (“CSE Pilot Program”) with KIPO and EPO. In the CSE Pilot Program, examiners from the three patent offices worked together to create a single, high quality PCT search report and written opinion. The CSE Pilot Program was also used to test the feasibility of establishing such a system on a permanent basis.

It was the opinion of the participating USPTO examiners that the quality of the final International Search Reports and the Written Opinions of the International Searching Authority in 67% of the patent applications reviewed was greatly improved by making the final work product more complete and by providing confidence in the work product by the first examiner. Feedback directly received from these examiners in administering the CSE Pilot Program supports the conclusion that collaboration across patent offices helps to increase the confidence in the final work product across the offices. The IP5 offices are currently developing the framework for a third phase of the CSE Pilot Program.

  5. Outsourcing PCT Searches

Over the last several years, outsourcing of PCT searches to third party vendors has enabled the USPTO to become a world leader in overall PCT timeliness.  The USPTO is attempting to maintain the progress made over the last several years, notwithstanding funding cuts dictated by the overall budget situation during FY 2013.  Particularly, these budgetary cuts have impacted the USPTO’s ability to fully outsource all of their incoming international applications to these third party vendors during the second half of FY 2013. These cuts in outsourcing resulted in a substantial backlog of international PCT applications waiting to be searched.  While full funding was restored to the international PCT outsourcing initiative at the beginning of FY 2014, the USPTO’s Chapter I timeliness for the searching of international PCT applications filed with the USPTO continues to be affected while the backlog is being worked through by the third party vendors.  Additionally, the USPTO has seen an increase in the number of ISA/US Chapter I filings as a result of the small and micro-entity search fee change that went into effect in January 2014.  This increase has put an additional strain on the backlog of international PCT applications, which is expected to be eliminated by the end of CY 2014.

  6. PCT – Systemic Improvement

The USPTO, in conjunction with the United Kingdom IP Office, has continued to pursue implementation of the “PCT 20/20” plan to improve the PCT process. To date, two of the PCT 20/20 proposals have been adopted: (i) mandatory top-up searches in Chapter II; and (ii) public availability of the written opinion of the Searching Authority at the time of international PCT application publication.

The IP5 offices recently agreed to strengthen communication and coordination in development of the PCT. The Offices agreed to prioritize four areas of work: (i) work sharing between International Authorities and national Offices; (ii) standards to improve accessibility to international PCT documents and facilitate their utilization; (iii) collaboration to enhance the quality of international searches and preliminary examinations under the PCT; and (iv) utilization of the PCT by small and medium enterprises and individual users.

As part of the IP5 offices’ coordination on PCT improvements, the USPTO agreed to consolidate all the recent PCT improvement plans (e.g., the WIPO’s PCT Roadmap, KIPO’s PCT 3.0, etc.) and review the implementation status of components of those plans at the next IP5 Working Group 3 meeting in Beijing, China in October 2014.

  7. Cooperative Patent Classification

Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC) is a classification system that the USPTO and the EPO developed collaboratively and which they manage jointly. Before the development of CPC, the USPTO and EPO each had their own classification systems, USPC and ECLA, respectively. CPC incorporates various elements of each of those classification systems and its structure is similar to that of another system, the International Patent Classification (IPC), which is administered by the WIPO. CPC has a greater number of subdivisions than IPC and is more efficient for patent searching.

The USPTO is currently transitioning from the USPC system to CPC. This shift, which began in November 2013, is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. Implementation of CPC at the USPTO requires extensive patent examiner training (approximately 1.1 million hours total, with about 868,000 hours already completed). The training is designed to help patent examiners to conduct effective searches using CPC and to categorize applications and granted patents accurately.

While costly, the transition to CPC is an investment in the future of intellectual property. The implementation of CPC will result in many benefits for both patent applicants and the IP community in general, including: enhanced examination efficiency and quality; improved access to more documents from patent offices around the world; improved navigation and understanding; facilitated work sharing on patent applications filed in multiple patent offices; improved consistency of classified search results across patent offices; and adaptive and actively maintained classification schemes.

  8. Global Patent Search Network

As a result of a cooperative effort between the USPTO and SIPO, Chinese patent documentation is now available for search and retrieval from the USPTO Web site via the Global Patent Search Network (GPSN) database located at http://gpsn.uspto.gov. Launched in June 2013, this searching tool enables examiners and the public to search Chinese patent documents in English or Chinese languages. The data available includes full-text native language Chinese patent documents and their corresponding English machine translations. Also available are full document images of Chinese patent documents. Users can search documents, including published applications, granted patents, and utility models from 1985 to 2012 in the GPSN. There are plans to add additional international patent collections in the future.

  9. Overall USPTO PCT Statistics

Table 3 below shows the data for PCT procedures through July 2014.

 FY 2010 

 FY 2011 

 FY 2012 

 FY 2013 

 FY 2014
(thru July) 

 RO/US
Receipt to record copy mailing 

 13 days 

 10 days 

 10.67 days 

 13 days 

 22 days 

 DO/EO/US
Receipt to release 

 251 days 

 159 days 

 95 days 

 85 days 

 107 days 

 ISA/US
Mailing of ISR/WO within 16 months from priority 

 82% 

 81% 

 55% 

 76% 

 44% 

 Mailing of ISR/WO within 18 months of priority 

 91% 

 92% 

 88% 

 92% 

 85% 

 IPEA/US
Mailing of IPER within 28 months from priority 

 14% 

 21% 

 29% 

 59% 

 72% 

 Mailing of IPER within 30 months of priority 

 19.5% 

 27% 

 36% 

 67% 

 79% 

Based on the anticipated effects of sequestration on the USPTO, the ISR mailing times for FY 2014 showed a decline from the previous year based on the reduction in funding to this third party contracted work.  Although the USPTO anticipated the impact to timeliness would follow a pattern similar to that of the reduction in FY 2011, there was clearly a greater impact on timeliness due to sequestration.  It is anticipated that the timeliness of ISR mailings will continue to be impacted through FY 2014 and into FY 2015 while the USPTO completes the hiring of third party contractors so as to return to previous work outputs.

  10. Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs

The United States is currently working through the final steps for accession to the Geneva Act of the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (“the Agreement”).  The USPTO has drafted final rules associated with expected accession to the Agreement taking into account public comments received in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking published in the Federal Register in November 2013.  The last remaining steps for the United States to become a member of the Hague Union are for the United States to deposit its instrument of ratification with the WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland and for the USPTO to publish Final Rules associated with the Agreement.  The Agreement will have effect in the United States after the requisite delay period from deposit of the instrument of ratification as set forth in the Agreement (e.g., three months or a longer time as set forth in the U.S. instrument of ratification).  Title I of the Patent Law Treaties Implementation Act of 2012 (the Hague related changes to Title 35 of the United States Code) and the USPTO rules (once published) are all expected to be timed to take effect on the same date on which the Agreement takes effect in the United States which is projected in FY 2015.

      D. RECOMMENDATIONS

Over the past year, the PPAC has seen a dramatic increase of activity with regard to international initiatives and programs based on the creation of the OIPC and the return to full funding of the USPTO. The PPAC supports the creation of the OIPC and its efforts in focusing the USPTO’s initiatives globally. The PPAC also believes that the creation of the OIPC will provide a more unified message of the USPTO’s initiatives to other patent offices and the user community. Additionally, having the OIPC in place should somewhat lessen the impact of future budget cuts on the USPTO since there is now a coordinated group of USPTO representatives dedicated to addressing the USPTO’s global initiatives.

The PPAC supports the efforts made by the USPTO in its international cooperation and work sharing initiatives among multiple patent offices and encourages the continued development and expansion of these efforts. While the PPH program is an excellent example of the USPTO’s efforts to share initiatives and resources among many patent offices, the USPTO needs to direct much more education, outreach and resources to the user community to showcase the benefits of the program, which should in turn increase usage of the PPH program. Such education and outreach would also benefit future global patent initiatives, such as the Global Dossier initiative. Further, more effort should be focused on outreach and training for the user community regarding any new software search tools and databases, such as the CCD and GPSN, as well as upcoming rule changes, such as the implementation of the Hague Agreement.

Additionally, the PPAC encourages much greater outreach to a varied audience of entities and groups from the user community for insight and input regarding current and future USPTO global initiatives. Finally, the PPAC recommends that the USPTO diligently review its efforts on an annual basis to ensure that the initiatives promote the overall objectives of harmonization and international work sharing and reduce duplication of efforts by patent offices as well as internally within the USPTO, while at the same time promote best practices to improve timeliness and quality.

The PPAC again commends the USPTO with regard to its international initiatives and programs during the past year and continues to offer its encouragement, support, guidance and assistance for FY 2015.

X. USPTO OUTREACH INITIATIVES

      A. INTRODUCTION

In addition to the outreach activities conducted by the other offices of the USPTO (highlighted earlier in this report related to issues such as AIA implementation), RCEs, and substantive examination, the Office of Innovation Development (OID) oversees the USPTO’s efforts to support American innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation. Often working closely with other U.S. Government officials and agencies, the OID designs and implements outreach assistance programs to a wide range of stakeholders including independent inventors, women, pro se applicants, small business concerns, university affiliates, minorities, and other underserved communities.

The OID also assists the Office’s educational outreach programs that promote IP protection and the valuable role it plays as a key driver of the American economy. These programs are designed to educate the public about intellectual property in general as well as the specifics of the patent application process, including the intricacies of patent prosecution and post-grant patent issues. The post patent grant education includes the importance of patents, and other forms of intellectual property, in starting, building, and growing a business.

The OID employs a variety of tools and techniques to quantify the reach of its programming and direct assistance with stakeholders. Some examples of these techniques and tools are maintaining logs of stakeholder’s direct calls and emails to the OID staff, the volume of participants to in-person and Web casted programming and use of Google® analytics to measure hits to the OID Web pages and Web information provided.

      B. INVENTORS CONFERENCES AND WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP SYMPOSIUMS

The OID sponsors regional and national events to educate small business concerns and independent inventors on the patent and trademark processes and on IP business strategies, recent events listed at www.uspto.gov/inventors/events. For these events, the USPTO provides IP expertise to the participants, including supervisory patent examiners to conduct breakout sessions and one-on-one assistance, and trademark presenters to provide education on the trademark process. Symposiums dedicated to fostering women entrepreneurs are also offered.

In FY 2014, the USPTO was able to conduct its annual Independent Inventors’ Conference in Alexandria at the USPTO in August and the OID’s annual Women’s Entrepreneurship Symposium at the University of Denver in June. Both events were well attended by the independent inventor community and viewed as providing significant educational benefit.

      C. USPTO REGIONAL OFFICE OUTREACH

Saturday Seminars, serving as a direct link for inventor’s questions and education, were offered quarterly at the Elijah J. McCoy Detroit satellite office and will soon be offered at the Denver satellite office. The Saturday Seminars for FY 2014 were held on Saturday, December 7, 2013, April 12, 2014, and July 19, 2014. For the December seminar, the OID staff joined by Web cast, in combination with on-the-ground Detroit staff, to offer a half day of educational programming for attendees. The April and July seminars were full day events with the OID staff on the ground working in combination with Detroit USPTO personnel and invited local speakers. Planning for outreach support to the Silicon Valley and Dallas satellite offices is underway and currently occurring on an ad hoc as needed basis.

The OID has also, in combination with the Innovation and Outreach Coordinator for the New York Region, hosted a Saturday Seminar and school education program in Brooklyn, New York. This two day event in May 2014 (Friday for students, Saturday for inventors, innovators, entrepreneurs, and makers) offered attendees basic IP information, hands-on learning, and local resources. Similar collaborative programming was conducted at Columbia University in September 2014.

      D. SUPPORTING INVENTOR ORGANIZATIONS

The USPTO also participates in outreach initiatives with inventor organizations throughout the United States. These are typically non-profit inventor organizations that assist inventors and innovators with the patent process. Many of these may eventually go on to start a business based on their inventions.

In FY 2014, the OID supported inventor, entrepreneur, and maker organizations and audiences by providing speakers and resources for organizational events as appropriate. The OID staff attended the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, Illinois to provide direct outreach and education to show attendees, particularly independent inventors located in the “Inventor’s Corner” area of the show. The show itself is attended by over 40,000 visitors and includes a student design competition. The OID representatives provided direct assistance and mentoring to those students selected as top finalists in the student design competition. The OID staff additionally participated in the White House Maker Faire and as well as the regional Maker Faire in Silver Spring, Maryland and the World’s Maker Faire in New York, NY.

Additionally, the OID sent a staff member to the America Makes program review in the spring of 2014. America Makes is focused on helping the United States grow capabilities and strength in 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing. The staff member presented to members on the importance of IP protection in the United States and internationally and educated attendees on the tools available to the community to help advance their patent application through the Office.

      E. MINORITY/UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES

In an effort to expand its assistance to minority and underserved communities, the Office is currently working to build and strengthen partnerships with organizations, such as the Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) and the Economic Development Agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, the National Society of Black Engineers, national professional organizations, and national and local educational institutions. In FY 2014, the OID staff participated at national and local events hosted by a majority of those organizations identified above. Participation with these organizations was often conducted in conjunction with the USPTO Office of Education and Outreach or the USPTO Global Intellectual Property Academy.

Particularly noteworthy is an on-going series of Webinars conducted collaboratively by the USPTO and the MBDA. FY 2014 Webinars were conducted for three consecutive days in both April and August 2014 and more are scheduled for FY 2015. As an example, over 1,000 persons registered for the August 2014 Webinar series.

      F. PRO BONO PROGRAM AND BAR ASSOCIATION ENGAGEMENT

It is noted that the Pro Bono Program, as of June 2014, was spearheaded by the USPTO’s Office of the Under Secretary. To summarize, in section 32, of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, Congress called upon the USPTO to assist financially under-resourced inventors and small businesses by working to establish pro bono programs across the country.  In a February 2014 Executive Action, President Obama tasked the USPTO with dedicating educational and financial resources to assist inventors who lack legal representation and to expand the existing pro bono programs.  The USPTO appointed the first-ever Pro Bono Coordinator in July 2014, a position within the Office of the Under Secretary.  The Pro Bono Team, consisting of the Coordinator, an attorney, and a program analyst, assists in expanding current programs and targeting states in which to begin new programs.  In addition, the Pro Bono Team helps to ensure the functionality of all pro bono programs and will soon utilize various forms of publicity to announce new openings of programs and other vital information to inventors, volunteer attorneys, and practitioner groups.

Right now, nine patent pro bono “hubs” exist around the country, which provide patent attorney services to inventors in 20 states.  The Pro Bono Team is working steadily towards ensuring coverage in all 50 states by the end of this year.  An additional 15 states are due to be launched in the near future, with the Michigan program kicking off on November 18, 2014, at the Detroit Regional Office.  While metrics maintained by the various regional hubs have not always been consistent, moving into the coming year, uniform reporting requirements will be implemented so that the volume and success of the various programs can be measured. 

      G. TRAINING MATERIALS AND WEB-BASED SUPPORT

The USPTO has several Web sites available to assist independent inventors and pro se applicants such as: www.uspto.gov/inventors/proseprobono, for those inventors that are either filing on their own behalf (pro se) or are seeking free or greatly reduced services from patent professionals; www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/iip, which provides “plain language” information about the patent and trademark processes and resources available through the USPTO; and www.uspto.gov/aia_implementation/informational_videos.jsp, which provides a series of videos located on the USPTO’s AIA micro-site to provide straightforward education to independent inventors and entrepreneurs explaining important changes resulting from the recently enacted America Invents Act. The Office is continuing to develop these pages to make them dynamic as rules change and to develop additional training material content. The Office also provides a dedicated email address for inventors and small businesses to submit questions at: IndependentInventor@uspto.gov and distributes an emailed monthly newsletter, The Inventors Eye (www.uspto.gov/inventors/independent).

While the USPTO does not investigate complaints or participate in any legal proceedings against invention promoters/promotion firms, under the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999, the USPTO will provide a public forum for the publication of complaints concerning invention promoters/promotion firms. The Office has developed a brochure to provide guidance to the inventor community on things to look out for and steps to take in hiring invention assistance providers.

      H. IP ASSESSMENT TOOL/SMALL BUSINESS EDUCATION

In collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology / Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Office has created a tool for use by small businesses that will allow them to self-assess their IP assets. The tool is a Web-based questionnaire that asks small business owners pertinent questions about products and/or services offered, created, or sold by their business providing a semi-custom report according to the specific responses to the questions answered. In FY 2013, the OID continued to refine the IP Assessment Tool and develop background materials for use in combination with the tool. Additionally, the OID staff continues to strengthen ties with the Small Business Administration.

The OID continues its work with the National Science Foundation (NSF), Small Business Innovation Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grantees in conjunction with Trademarks, and the Global Intellectual Property Academy. At the NSF grantee conferences, the OID presents basic information on patents and provides one-on-one consultation to grantees. In addition to working with the SBIR/STTR program administered by the NSF, the OID has begun a broader approach to all SBIR/STTR programs. The OID has attended and presented at the National SBIR/STTR Conference. The national conference draws in attendees from the 11 participating federal agencies. These agencies work with 15,000 firms, spend $21 billion in research funds, and represent over 400,000 scientists and engineers.

The OID staff is also currently participating in the National Institutes of Health Centers for Accelerated Innovation (NCAI) Program which is a $31.5 million, seven year initiative to create an integrated, systematic, and comprehensive approach to moving basic science discoveries through early stage technology development to ultimate commercialization to advance the prevention and management of cardiovascular, pulmonary, sleep and hematologic disorders.  Launched in September 2013, each Center participating in the program is a multi-partnered consortium of research performing institutions and includes: Boston Biomedical Innovation Center, Cleveland Clinic Innovation Accelerator and University of California Biomedical Research Acceleration, Integration & Development Center for Accelerated Innovation. The OID staff participates in regular meetings in order 1) to share each of the NCAI program’s objectives and operational plans, 2) to provide resources to the Centers, and 3) to discuss the strategic needs for national coordination and knowledge dissemination, program evaluation and NCAI sustainability.

      I. UNIVERSITY OUTREACH/TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The Office has long played a role in IP educational outreach to universities; initial efforts were directed to where the USPTO had a well-established recruiting effort with nearby universities. In conducting university outreach, lectures targeted engineering students, business and entrepreneurship students, student organizations, and the university’s technology transfer office. At many universities, the USPTO also provided lectures to faculty and staff about the state of IP protection in the current environment. The USPTO and the Association of University Technology Managers also partnered to seek judges for the Patents for Humanity program. In addition, during FY 2014 the Office frequently collaborated with the National Academy of Inventors and InventNow in reaching out to university patent holders and collegiate inventors.

      J. MUSEUM OUTREACH

The Office frequently works with museums seeking information, assistance, education, and exhibits. In FY 2014, the USPTO began a new long term collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, thus replacing the former agreement pertaining to the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building. Going forward, the OID is working in conjunction with the Smithsonian in developing programs and exhibits for the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of American History, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum. It is anticipated that additional creative, educational, and intellectual support and collaboration will be provided and take place across other Smithsonian venues and programs on an ad hoc basis. Through this collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, the USPTO will also participate with the Smithsonian Institution’s cable channel and innovation Web site available at www.Smithsonian.com.

The Office continues its efforts to further expand outreach and assistance seeking opportunities to collaborate with like-minded organizations and events to share IP education and information in its efforts to support American innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation. In FY 2014, the OID participated in the 2014 World IP Day Celebrations hosted by the American Intellectual Property Law Association.

      K. PRO SE PILOT PROGRAM

The USPTO is developing, for an FY 2015 implementation, a pro se pilot program. Under executive leadership in Patents and the OID staff, the pro se pilot program is designed to operate as two distinct but complimentary “shops:” the pro se assistance shop and the pro se examination shop. These shops will respectively assist pro se applicants prior to filing and during examination. The pro se assistance shop, located in the OID and staffed by the OID and designated detailee staff will assist pro se applicants in understanding the patent process, filing requirements, and patent searching. The pro se examination shop will be an art unit of examiners selected to examine pro se applications, from the current backlog of applications, for a majority of their examination time. This pilot program is scheduled to run for FY 2015 with the possibility of being extended at the end of FY 2015 for a second year.

      L. RECOMMENDATIONS

The PPAC commends the USPTO on its expansion of outreach efforts to reach an ever growing number of the public and stakeholder community. The PPAC recommends that the USPTO continue to grow its programs in this area to disseminate information concerning innovation and the USPTO’s role and avenues for assistance and information.

APPENDIX

LOUIS J. FOREMAN, CHAIRMAN

LOUIS J. FOREMAN, CHAIRMANLouis Foreman is founder and Chief Executive of Enventys, an integrated product design and engineering firm. He is also CEO of Edison Nation. Louis graduated from The University of Illinois with a Bachelors of Science degree in Economics. His interest in starting businesses and developing innovative products began while a sophomore with his first company founded in his fraternity room. Over the past 20 years Louis has created nine successful start-ups and has been directly responsible for the creation of over 20 others. A prolific inventor, he is the inventor of 10 registered U.S. Patents, and his firm is responsible for the development of well over 500 more. The recipient of numerous awards for entrepreneurial achievement, his passion for small business extends beyond his own companies. Louis is an adjunct professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, teaching at Queens University, Johnson & Wales University and The McColl School of Business.

Louis is a frequent lecturer and radio / TV guest on the topics of innovation, intellectual property, and small business creation, and is frequently invited by national trade associations to be a featured speaker on the topic of innovation.

In addition to being an inventor, Louis is also committed to inspiring others to be innovative. Louis is the creator of the Emmy® Award winning PBS TV show, Everyday Edisons, and serves as the Executive Producer and lead judge. The show is filming its fifth season and appears nationally on PBS. In 2007, Louis became the publisher of Inventors Digest, a 28 year old publication devoted to the topic of American Innovation. In 2009, his first book, The Independent Inventor’s Handbook, was published by Workman Publishing.

Louis serves on the Board of Directors of the James Dyson Foundation, the Intellectual Property Owners Association, Ventureprise, New Dominion Bank, and the Intellectual Property Owners Educational Foundation. Most recently, Louis was appointed by Small Business Administration Administrator, Karen Mills, to serve a three year term on the National SBDC Advisory Board.

ESTHER M. KEPPLINGER, VICE CHAIR

ESTHER M. KEPPLINGER, VICE CHAIREsther Kepplinger is Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati’s Chief Patent Counselor. Her responsibilities include serving as the firm’s liaison to the USPTO, ensuring that all of its patent filings are conducted in the most efficient and defensible manner, and enhancing the firm’s inter partes USPTO practice. She also serves as an expert witness on USPTO practices and procedures. Prior to joining the firm in 2005, Esther served as deputy commissioner for patent operations in the USPTO in Alexandria, Virginia, for five years. As deputy commissioner, she oversaw the nation’s patent-examination process, with all the patent examiners in the United States reporting to her. Esther managed a budget of $700 million and was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the country’s seven patent technology centers, including about 4,500 people.

Esther also played a pivotal role in establishing the policies and strategic direction of the patent examining corps, helping to implement the USPTO’s goals for improving quality and efficiency of service. With the USPTO since 1973, Esther has held a variety of other positions, including patent examiner and supervisor for a biotechnology art unit and group director for the chemical and materials engineering group. While at the USPTO, Esther received a number of awards, including the Presidential Rank Award in 2002 and the Department of Commerce Gold Medal in 1998, 2004, and 2013.

WAYNE P. SOBON

WAYNE P. SOBONWayne P. Sobon, Vice President and General Counsel of Inventergy, Inc. is responsible for Inventergy’s overall legal operations. Wayne was most recently Vice President and Chief IP Counsel for Rambus Inc., responsible for Rambus’ global IP development program. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, Wayne received his B.S. degree in physics and B.A. degree in German Studies from Stanford University in 1984 and his J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1992. Since receiving his law and business degrees, Wayne worked at several Silicon Valley law firms, most recently Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich LLP (now DLA Piper), where he was a partner specializing in patent prosecution, litigation and general IP counseling. Wayne served as Associate General Counsel, and Director of Intellectual Property for Accenture from 2000 to 2011.

Wayne is a frequent speaker and lecturer on IP issues, is President Elect of the American Intellectual Property Law Association, a member of the USPTO’s PPAC, a member of the board of Invent Now.org of the National Inventor Hall of Fame, and a prior member of the board of the Intellectual Property Owners Association.

VALERIE LANDRIO MCDEVITT, J.D., MST

VALERIE LANDRIO MCDEVITT, J. D., MSTValerie Landrio McDevitt is the Associate Vice President at the University of South Florida, Technology Transfer Office. USF recently ranked 12th world-wide for granted U.S. patents among all universities; and within the Top 20 for executed licenses and options in the United States, and Top 15 in the United States for number of startup companies among individually reporting universities.

Prior to joining USF, Valerie served as assistant patent counsel and a research chemist for Bausch & Lomb Pharmaceuticals. She also participated in the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowship program and worked as a science advisor with a House subcommittee in Washington, D.C.

Valerie received her BS in Chemistry from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, MST in Chemistry at the University of Florida,and a JD at Emory University School of Law. She is a certified licensing professional through LES, a registered technology transfer professional through ATTP, a member of the Georgia and Florida bars, and is admitted to practice before the Federal Patent and Trademark Office.

CLINTON H. HALLMAN, JR.

CLINTON H. HALLMAN, JR.Clinton Hallman is the Chief Patent Counsel for Kraft Foods Group, Inc. He has responsibility for patent matters at Kraft and manages a staff with counsel in the Chicago area. His time at Kraft has involved a variety of experiences including major litigation matters, business divestures, and IP strategy development. Prior to working at Kraft he was a patent counsel at the Altria Group for several years where he was responsible for patent prosecution, opinion work and significant client counseling. His responsibilities there included a stint at an Altria subsidiary that was created to market technology developed for the tobacco industry in other areas such as medical devices, fuel injector technology and alloys. Clinton has had a stint in private practice at a small IP boutique where he handled patent, trademark and copyright matters working with companies in the textiles and furniture industries.

Clinton got his start in intellectual property at Mobil Oil Corporation where he worked as a project engineer and construction manager for several years before joining the office of patent counsel. His patent work at Mobil included support of the plastics division of Mobil Chemical.

Clinton served as an officer in the U.S. Navy having been commissioned in 1977. His service was all sea duty with most of that time assigned to the engineering departments of the ships on which he served.

Clinton is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is a 1994 graduate of the George Mason University School of Law in the Patent Track. He is admitted to practice in Illinois (Corporate), North Carolina and Virginia. He is a member of the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago, the American Intellectual Property Law Association, and the American Bar Association. He sits on the board of directors of the Greater Chicago Food Depository the Intellectual Property Association of Chicago and the Loyola Academy Sailing Club.

Clinton is married and has two sons, ages 27 and 21. He lives and works in the suburbs north of Chicago, IL.

MARYLEE JENKINS

MARYLEE JENKINSMarylee Jenkins is a partner at Arent Fox LLP and head of the New York Office’s Intellectual Property Group. She has extensive experience in all aspects of IP matters and counsels a diverse international client base that includes Fortune 500 companies, not-for profit organizations, and small businesses. She counsels clients on disputes and strategies, portfolio enforcement and management, e-commerce, and software development and protection on issues involving computers and the Internet.  Throughout her career, Marylee has devised unique and innovative solutions to complex IP matters for clients across the globe.

On protection and enforcement matters, Marylee has routinely prosecuted domestic and foreign patent applications in the electrical, electromechanical and computer industries, including computer hardware and software, Internet and computer-related technologies, telecommunication, and information and financial systems. In addition, she provides counseling and opinion work on trademark selection, clearance, prosecution, registration, brand management and enforcement and represents clients in IP and bankruptcy litigations and in patent appeals, reexaminations and reissues and trademark oppositions and cancellations before the USPTO.

Marylee has been a member of the USPTO’s PPAC since February 2013.  She is a past Chairperson of the American Bar Association’s Section of Intellectual Property Law and is a past President of the New York Intellectual Property Law Association. She is currently serving again as a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Technology and Information Systems and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. Marylee is a member of John Marshall Law School’s Intellectual Property Law Advisory Board and was a member of Columbia Engineering School’s Engineering Council for several years.

Marylee holds a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied Science, a B.S. in physics from Centre College of Kentucky and a J.D. from New York Law School. Marylee is admitted to the bars of New York, Connecticut, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court and is registered to practice before the USPTO.

A. CHRISTAL SHEPPARD, Ph.D., J.D.

A. CHRISTAL SHEPPARD, Ph.D., J.D.Assistant Professor Sheppard joined the University of Nebraska faculty in 2011, after over two decades of Science and Intellectual Property Law and Policy experience. She is an Assistant Professor and co-founded a program of Concentrated Study in Intellectual Property law at the Law College.

Dr. Sheppard began her career as a scientist earning a M.S. and Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Michigan.  After receiving a J.D. from Cornell University Law School and interning with Judge Radar at the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the Executive Office of the President’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, she was a practicing attorney at the law firm of Foley & Lardner earning extensive experience in patent prosecution, client patent counseling and ligation. She then served in the Office of the General Counsel of the United States International Trade Commission working on Section 337 matters, arguing before the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.  In 2005, Dr. Sheppard also completed Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Education for Senior Managers in Government program.

Her successful career in IP law and policy included her tenure as Chief Counsel on Patents and Trademarks for the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary where she was integral in many endeavors including the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the most comprehensive change to this nation’s IP laws in over 60 years.

In April of 2012, Dr. Sheppard testified before the United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary at the hearing “International Patent Issues: Promoting a Level Playing Field for American Industry Abroad.” She has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones News Wire, Fox Business, the Chicago Sun Times and Politico.

PETER THURLOW

PETER THURLOWPeter Thurlow is a patent attorney and partner at Jones Day law firm in New York. He has significant experience in all aspects of domestic and international patent prosecution, including post-grant reissue, ex parte, and inter partes reexamination proceedings. As a patent prosecution attorney, his experience includes drafting, filing, and prosecuting United States patent cooperation treaties and international patent applications. Mr. Thurlow provides litigation support for patent litigation in the District Courts, the International Trade Commission, and before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mr. Thurlow is the current chairperson of the Patent Law Committee for the New York Intellectual Property Law Association (NYIPLA). Mr. Thurlow has been active in the implementation of the America Invents Act, representing the NYIPLA’s views before the USPTO. Mr. Thurlow received his bachelor’s degree in marine engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy; his master’s in business administration from Pace University in New York; and his law degree from Brooklyn Law School. Mr. Thurlow is serving his first term as a PPAC member.

PAUL JACOBS

PAUL JACOBSDr. Jacobs is the founder and president of Jake Technologies, Inc., a technology service company focused on strategic technology development, product evaluation, and advising corporate counsel and law firms on issues related to intellectual property. Prior to founding Jake Technologies, Inc., Dr. Jacobs held leadership positions as chief technology officer, Primus Technology Solutions; president and chief operating officer, and chief technology officer, AnswerLogic, Inc.; managing vice president, electronic commerce, director of product marketing, and director of media information technologies, SRA International, Inc.; president and chief executive officer, IsoQuest, Inc.; and as a computer scientist at General Electric. Dr. Jacobs received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied mathematics at Harvard University; and his doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley. He currently teaches Information Architecture at the University of Maryland in College Park. Dr. Jacobs is serving his first term as a member of the PPAC.

ppac@uspto.gov
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 265 

Trademark Public Advisory Committee Annual Report 2014

TRADEMARK PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT 2014

United States Patent and Trademark Office

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE


    TABLE OF CONTENTS
I.   Introduction
II.   Discussion of Specific Issues
  A. Trademark Operations Performance
    1.    Performance Statistics
    2.    Quality and Training
    3.    Initiatives Completed in FY2014
    4.    Ongoing Initiatives
    5.    RFC on changing Good/Services to Reflect New Technology
    6.    Nice Agreement
    7.    Outreach Initiatives
    8.    International Matters
  B. IT and E-Government Issues
    1.    Trademark Next Generation (TMNG)
    2.    Trademark Legacy Improvements and Programs
    3.    Business Priorities and Wish List
  C. Budget and Funding Issues
    1.    Effects of the 2013 Sequester
    2.    Trademark Registration/Renewal Fees
    3.    USPTO Use of Activity-Based Information System Accounting
    4.    Office of the Chief Information Officer
    5.    Office of Policy and International Affairs
  D. Trademark Trial and Appeals Board
    1.    Precedential Decisions
    2.    Performance Statistics
    3.    Oppositions and Cancellation Proceedings
    4.    Pendency and Inventory Goals
    5.    Final Decision and Overall Average Pendency
    6.    Contested Motions
    7.    ActiveInter Parties Cases Pending Under “Old Rule”
    8.    TTAB Leadership and Staffing
    9.    Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manuel of Procedures (TBMP)

Trademark Public Advisory Committee

Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Report


I.    Introduction

      

This is the fifteenth annual report of the Trademark Public Advisory Committee (“TPAC”). This report reviews the trademark operations of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for the fiscal year (FY) ending September 30, 2014. TPAC’s mission, which is specified in enabling legislation, 35 U.S.C. § 5(b)(1) and (d)(1), is “to represent the interests of diverse users” of the USPTO and to “review the policies, goals, performance, budget, and user fees” of the USPTO with respect to trademarks.

Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 5(d)(2), this report is submitted within 60 days following the end of the federal FY and is transmitted to the President, the Secretary of Commerce and the Committees on the Judiciary of the Senate and the House of Representatives. This report is submitted for publication in the Official Gazette of the USPTO. The report will be available to the public on the USPTO website, www.uspto.gov.

Members of TPAC. As of the end of FY2014, the following individuals were members of TPAC:

Jody Haller Drake, Partner, Sughrue Mion, LLC, Washington, D.C. (term ends December 6, 2014)
Ray Thomas, Jr., Owner, Law Office of Ray Thomas, Jr. PLLC, Washington, DC (term ends December 6, 2014)
Linda McLeod, Partner, Kelly IP, New York, New York (term ends December 6, 2014)
Kathryn Barrett Park (Vice Chair), Chief Global Executive Brand Counsel, General Electric Corporation, Fairfield, Connecticut (term ends December 6, 2015)
Dee Ann Weldon-Wilson, Trademark Counsel, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Irving, Texas (term ends December 6, 2015)
Maury M. Tepper, III (Chair), Member, Tepper & Eyster, PLLC, Raleigh, North Carolina (term ends December 6, 2015)
Anne H. Chasser, Strategic Advisor, Wolfe, Sadler, Breen, Morasch & Colby, LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio (term ends December 6, 2016)
Deborah Hampton, Intellectual Property Manager, New York, New York (term ends December 6, 2016)
William G. Barber, Member, Pirkey Barber, PLLC, Austin, Texas (term ends December 6, 2016)
      

In addition to the above voting Members, the following people are non-voting TPAC members representing the membership of USPTO unions:

Harold Ross of the National Treasury Employees Union (“NTEU”) Chapter 243.
Howard Friedman of NTEU Chapter 245.
Tamara Kyle of the Patent Office Professional Association.
      

Report Highlights.

In keeping with recent years, Trademark Operations continued to meet and to exceed performance goals during FY 2014. TPAC commends the dedicated leadership of Commissioner for Trademarks, Deborah Cohn and her leadership team, as well as the hard work of numerous Examining Attorneys, Interlocutory Attorneys, Law Instrument Examiners and others in Trademark Operations. TPAC in particular wishes to thank Commissioner Cohn, who will retire at the end of calendar year 2014, for her long and highly successful career as a public servant and for her exemplary leadership of Trademark Operations. Commissioner Cohn has made significant contributions to the success of Trademark Operations, and her leadership will be missed.

      TPAC is pleased to note that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) continues the positive trends reflected in last year’s Annual Report and is now on track to maintain pendency of cases at levels reflected in its performance goals. Chief Judge Gerard Rodgers, with continuing cooperation and assistance from Group Director Meryl Hershkowitz from Trademark Operations, has implemented organizational changes that have improved efficiency and output.

      The Office of the Chief Information Officer is continuing its progress on the design of a new, integrated IT system for Trademarks, known as Trademarks Next Generation (“TMNG”), and TPAC is pleased to see the introduction of new systems that are being used internally for examination of trademark applications. During FY 2015, we look forward to the introduction of more external-facing systems that will benefit those who file trademark applications and who utilized the USPTO’s databases. TPAC notes, however, that the development of TMNG continues to take significantly longer and to cost significantly more than originally anticipated, and we remain watchful of the significant investment of User Fees to develop these systems. TPAC is pleased that OCIO continues to seek input and recommendations from Trademark Operations, and this cooperative approach helps to guide the development process.

      TPAC has noted the growth of certain programs, including the IP Attaché Program. While these programs are generally well-received and can benefit trademark owners, TPAC looks forward to developing better communication with stakeholders, to help to guide the utilization of this resource, and to better tracking of the activities of IP Attachés, to help to manage the investment of Trademark User Fees.

      The Office of Chief Financial Officer (“OCFO”) continues to provide excellent information and to support and assist Trademark Operations and other USPTO divisions in the monitoring and allocation of Trademark User Fees. TPAC appreciates the thorough and responsive approach of OCFO and its significant contributions to successful management of Trademark Operations.

II.    Discussion of Specific Issues.

A.

Trademark Operations Performance:

      Results for FY 2014 demonstrated a continued, extremely high level of performance by the USPTO’s Trademark Organization, with great transparency. Quality, pendency, filing, and registration data are updated quarterly throughout the year and available on the Trademark Dashboard on the USPTO website.

    1. Performance Statistics.
             a.    

Increase in Applications. Trademark application filings continued an upward trend, increasing by nearly 5 percent compared to a year ago. This follows the record set last fiscal year when applications increased 4.5 percent. New applications are on target to increase this fiscal year to 455,017 classes.

             b.    

Balanced Disposals.The Office continued to maintain very high productivity levels, as it has for the past several years. There were 909,604 total Balanced Disposals, slightly less than the Trademark Operations goal of 913,000. A Balanced Disposal means one of three actions has occurred (i) a first Office Action has issued, (ii) the application has been approved for publication after examination or (iii) the application has been abandoned.

             c.    

Total Office Disposals. Total Office Disposals, which mean the number of applications that either resulted in registration or abandonment were 429,869 for FY 2014, up 6 percent from FY 2013.

             d.    

Average First Action Pendency in Target Range. Average First Action Pendency was 3 months in FY 2014, falling squarely within the Trademark Operations target range of 2.5 to 3.5 months. In fact, First Action Pendency remained within this target range at all times during FY 2014. First Action Pendency is the time between the filing of a trademark application and the substantive review of that application by the USPTO (which usually results in either an Office Action or a Notice of Publication). The range that Trademark Operations has set for its target represents a balance between maintaining an appropriate inventory of work for the Examining Attorney corps and the desire to provide a reliably fast response to trademark applicants. TPAC supports this range, and applauds Trademark Operations for consistently working within the range over the last several years.

             e.    

Average Total Pendency. The average time between the filing of a trademark application and final disposition of that application, whether by registration, abandonment or issuance of a Notice of Allowance continued to remain at historically low levels. For FY 2014, Average Total Pendency was at an all-time low of 9.8 months, if suspended or inter partes cases are excluded, and 11.3 months if all cases are included. (An application is suspended in cases where the outcome of another matter must be determined before further action on the application can be taken. This can occur if there is a previously-filed application still under examination. An inter partes case is where there is an opposition or cancellation proceeding before the TTAB.) These results are due in part to the progress made from greater acceptance of electronic filing and in particular use of TEAS Plus applications, which now make up 39 percent of new filings and more than 33 percent of new classes. Electronic filing and communications, which promotes more efficient and cost effective processing, now comprises 80.7 percent of all applications processed to disposal.

             f.    

Overall. Trademark Operations substantially met or exceeded ALL of its quantitative performance goals for FY 2014, continuing the trend that has been consistent under the leadership of Commissioner Cohn throughout her tenure. TPAC congratulates Commissioner Cohn on yet another stellar performance in FY 2014; her leadership has been exemplary. TPAC also commends the dedicated staff throughout Trademark Operations for these outstanding results, which are of huge benefit to the public served by the USPTO.

    2. Quality and Training.
    

Although Trademark Operations has consistently performed at a very high level, the emphasis on qualitative, in addition to quantitative measures has continued under Commissioner Cohn’s leadership, as she has raised the bar by constantly seeking to improve the qualitative review of applications, so that the Trademark Register accurately reflects the substantive rights of trademark owners. Thus, Trademark Operations has made great progress towards setting and achieving high quality standards. All quality targets are being met, evidence that specialized training, online tools, and enhanced communication efforts are proving effective. The USPTO has worked with members of the IP community through user groups to conduct reviews of Office Actions in order to validate and define evaluation metrics for quality review standards.

             a.     Compliance Rate. Examination quality is measured by evaluating random samples of applications at two different points during the examination process. This measurement is known as the compliance rate, or the percentage of actions or decisions that have been determined to have been made correctly, with no deficiencies or errors. The first point of review looks at Initial Office Actions that reject applications for registration or raise other issues regarding formalities that require correction to the application. The second point of review takes place at “final disposition” of an application, either by a final refusal to register or a decision to approve\ the application for publication. The goal at both points is to determine whether the Examining Attorney’s decisions and written Office Actions comport with bases of refusal under the Lanham Act. The goal for FY 2014 was 95.5 percent compliance for first Office Actions and 97 percent for final disposition. For FY 2014, Trademark Operations surpassed both goals, achieving a First Office Action compliance rate of 95.8 percent, and a final disposition compliance rate of 97.2 percent.
             b.     Exceptional Office Action. The “Exceptional Office Action” is a standard with four distinct criteria: the appropriateness of the likelihood of confusion search, the quality of the evidence provided, the clarity of the writing, and the quality of the decision making. In FY 2014, Trademark Operations far exceeded its goal of 28%, with 43 percent of all first Office Actions meeting the criteria for the Exceptional Office Action.
             c.     Examination Guides. Examination Guides provide a useful means of directing Examining Attorneys how to deal consistently with developing areas or with areas that have proven problematic or difficult. During FY 2014, Trademark Operations issued several important Examination Guides.
                  i. gTLD Examination Guide: Examination Guide 1-14, entitled “Applications for MarksComprising gTLDs for Domain-Name Registry Operator and Registrar Services” was published earlier this year. The guide concerns applications for marks comprising generic top-level domain names (gTLDs) for domain name registry operator and registrar services. In light of the ICANN initiative designed to introduce new gTLDs, some of which may have significance as source identifiers, the guide sets forth conditions under which such marks may be registered.
                  ii. Geographic Certification Mark Examination Guide: Examination Guide 2-14,entitled “Geographic Certification Marks” was recently published. The guide describes the application requirements for geographic certification marks, explains the analysis for determining whether a mark functions to certify regional origin, discusses the relevant considerations for Section 2(d) likelihood-of-confusion determinations involving geographic certification marks, and provides examples illustrating some of the concepts covered.
             d.     Training
                  i. Best Practices Presentation: Examining Attorneys received a presentation on the best practices of the best performing examining attorneys in the Office. The objective as to communicate and share tips and work habits of these Examining Attorneys to other Examining Attorneys.
                  ii. Right of Publicity Presentation: An attorney from the NFL Players’ Association gave presentation at the USPTO in April on the right of publicity. CLE credit was given to attendees.
                  iii. Identification Crafting Bootcamp Training: Examining Attorneys completed training with a focus on constructing acceptable identifications.
                  iv. Trademark Attorney Training Day: On May 29th, Trademark Operations held a day of legal and examination training, including a number of CLE classes. The event served the dual purpose of promoting employee engagement as many people who work remotely came to the office to attend the sessions and reconnect with colleagues. The event was considered a huge success by the large number of attorneys that attended.
                  v. INTA Industry Day: On July 29th, representatives from “Big Data” technology firms came to the USPTO to discuss the nature of their industry and specific issues affecting trademark examination. CLE credit was provided for attendees.
    3. Initiatives Completed in FY2014
         a. TMEP Updates: The USPTO issued updates to the Trademark Manual of Examination Procedure (TMEP) in October, 2013 and April, 2014.
         b. Enhanced Official Gazette (eOG): The new eOG was launched in September, 2013. The USPTO based the initial design on input from external users and is in the process of incorporating new and enhanced features for both internal and external users that are now possible in an all-electronic format. New search features and publication of multimedia (sensory) marks are the most prominent changes so far.
         c. Electronic Suggestion Tool: This communication tool for comments on TMEP and examination guides allows both internal and external customers to provide commentary using this tool and view comments made by others. The USPTO encourages submission of comments in this manner and has taken them into consideration for all examination guides issued in 2014 as well as revisions to the TMEP.
    4. Ongoing Initiatives
         a. Pilot Program to Review Post-Registration Specimens: The USPTO continued to address issues related to potential inaccuracies in the identifications of goods and services on the register. For the past two years it has conducted a limited pilot program where additional specimens were requested in connection with Section 8 and Section 71 Affidavits of Continued Use. The Office has published a report based on a high percentage of cases reviewed and completed, and is following up with discussions with stakeholders about future actions. TPAC stresses the importance of an accurate use-based register, and the Committee looks forward to continuing to work with Trademark Operations to identify measures to improve the accuracy and integrity of the Register.
         b. ID Manual Enhancements: Trademark Operations continued to work with user groups (INTA, IPO) to update and improve entries in the Identifications and Classifications Manual. User groups are currently focusing on three areas: Social Media, Finance, and Computer Terminology. IT enhancements, including an ID Checker feature and better explanatory notes for entries are in the works.
         c. Fee Reduction: The USPTO has issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) that would offer lower-cost fee options for filing electronic applications and renewals of registrations. The fee reduction is possible due to efficiencies that have reduced the cost of providing some services. The proposed reduction maintains an Operating Reserve sufficient to manage operations and address long term investments.
          Under the proposal, trademark application filing fees and renewal fees would be reduced by 15 to 25% depending on how the application is filed. The USPTO proposes to reduce the fee for an application filed using the regular TEAS application form by $50 to $275 per class if the applicant authorizes e-mail communication and agrees to file all responses and other documents electronically during the prosecution of the application. This option will be known as a TEAS Reduced Fee (“TEAS RF”) application. The USPTO also proposes to reduce by $50 the fee for a TEAS Plus application to $225 per class and reduce by $100 the fee for TEAS renewal of a registration to $300 per class.
          The proposed fee reductions will reduce processing costs and promote efficiency for the USPTO and for its customers. Lower fees benefit new and existing businesses, providing lower costs for those seeking and maintaining federal registrations to protect their investment.
          The proposal will also further a USPTO strategic objective to increase the end-to-end electronic processing of trademark applications by offering additional electronic application processing options and promoting online filing, electronic file management, and workflow. Implementation is scheduled for January 2015 following completion of the rulemaking process and changes to TEAS forms.
          TPAC applauds Trademark Operations on both realizing increased efficiencies for the trademark community through the strategic development and implementation of electronic processing and on providing trademark owners with cost-saving alternatives for filing trademark applications and renewing trademark registrations.
    5. RFC on Changing Goods/Services to Reflect New Technology:
          Some stakeholders have requested that they be allowed to change identifications of goods and services at the Post Registration stage due to evolution in technology that has affected products and services through the years. The USPTO issued a Request for Comments to solicit more public input on this subject and held a roundtable discussion at the USPTO on April 11th. Next steps will include a proposal by the USPTO, which will be published for public review and comment.
    6. Nice Agreement:
          The USPTO posted its proposals for changes to the 10th edition, 2015 version of the Nice Agreement. Proposals were developed based on inconsistencies noticed in the Alphabetical List, questions raised by Trademark Operations and the public on proper classification of new items and services, and clarifications to Class Headings and Explanatory Notes to provide more guidance and justification for classification practice. Proposals may be viewed on WIPO’s NIVILO e-Forum found at http://web2.wipo.int/nef/. The comment period for proposals ended December 31, 2013. The staff of ID/Class will be drafting and posting comments on the proposals of other members.
    7. Outreach Initiatives.
         a. Expansion of Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program
          The USPTO’s Office of Enrollment and Discipline launched the Law School Clinic Certification Pilot Program in 2008. The program expanded in 2010 and further expanded in 2012. On July 30th, the USPTO announced further expansion of the program for Fall 2014. The latest expansion resulted in 15 law schools being added to the trademark-track of the program. Currently, a total of 45 law schools participate in the program, 39 of which practice trademark law.
          The Student-Attorneys are permitted, under the supervision of a duly certified Faculty Supervisor, to assist clients on a pro bono basis with intellectual property matters before the USPTO. To date, over: i) 1,400 Student-Attorneys have participated in the program; and ii) 650 applications were reportedly filed through the trademark-track of the program.
          The program provides the extraordinary opportunity for Student-Attorneys to gain invaluable real-world experience in intellectual property during law school. Furthermore, the program makes quality legal representation affordable for individual entrepreneurs and small business owners desiring to protect their intellectual property rights. Accordingly, TPAC continues to be very pleased with this well-organized and purposeful program.
         b. 2014 National Trademark Expo: The USPTO held the 2014 Trademark Expo on the Alexandria campus October 17th and 18th. This widely attended event drew thousands of public visitors. In addition to displays and exhibits hosted by businesses with well-known marks, a number of educational forums were presented on trademark law, protecting trademarks and filing for trademark registration.
    8. International Matters
         a. Intellectual Property (IP) Attaché Program
          By way of background, the U.S. IP Attaché program was formally instituted in 2006 as a result of: i) the Japan IP Attaché to Switzerland (1992); ii) the successes of the first two U.S. IP Attachés to Switzerland (1993) and China (2003); and iii) the funding that Congress allocated to international outreach efforts (2005).
          IP Attachés are subject matter experts serving as diplomats in foreign countries/regions. They are supported in their efforts by teams in the USPTO’s Office of Policy and External Affairs. To date, IPR Attachés have been assigned to the following countries: Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Mexico, Russia, Switzerland and Thailand. They are primarily responsible for promoting U.S. IP policies (e.g., taking actions necessary to strengthen the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights of U.S. businesses abroad).
          In order to better understand this fairly new program: i) representatives of the Office of Policy and External Affairs (i.e., Shira Perlmutter, Chief Policy Officer and Dom Keating, Director of IPR Attaché Program) gave presentations during TPAC’s public meetings of October 12, 2012 and October 16, 2014; and ii) members of TPAC’s International Subcommittee will meet with the IPR Attachés, in December, 2014, while they are at the USPTO for their annual consultations.
          TPAC’s review of the USPTO budget over the past few years raised the issue of Trademark’s investment in the program. TPAC will continue to closely monitor the program to ensure that Trademark’s investment is proportionate to the percentage of time the IPR Attachés and their support are dedicating to trademark-related matters.
         b. Madrid Protocol Updates
          On October 16, 2013, Tunisia acceded to the Madrid Protocol. The USPTO will continue its efforts to provide technical assistance to new members.
          In collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), on October 23, 2013 the USPTO conducted a seminar at its Global Intellectual Property Academy. Ray Thomas, Jr. participated in the seminar on behalf of TPAC. The advanced seminar provided participants with useful “Tips for Filing International Applications and Maintaining International Registrations”. The agenda included: i) Overview of the Madrid System; ii) WIPO Online Resources; iii) Preparing and Filing an International Application; iv) Role of USPTO’s Madrid Processing Unit and Review of International Application; v) Role of WIPO’s International Bureau and Review of International Application; vi) Changes to International Registration; and vii) Miscellaneous Issues: Section 71 Declaration, Subsequent Designations and Additional WIPO Resources.
         c. TM5 (The Five Trademark Offices)
          TM5 is the abbreviation for The Five Trademark Offices: 1) USPTO; 2) Japan Patent Office (JPO); 3) Office of Harmonization for the Internal Markets (OHIM); 4) Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO); and 5) State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) of the People’s Republic of China. TM5 references the cooperative effort between the above-mentioned governmental organizations (“Partners”) to promote the harmonization of trademarks between their countries.
          The last Annual Meeting was held December 5 - 6, 2013 in Seoul, Korea. At that time, the Partners discussed various projects (e.g., Bad-Faith Trademark Filings, TM5 Website Project). In addition, in FY2014, TM5 members presented a Bad Faith Filing seminar, both in Tokyo, and then in Hong Kong (in conjunction with the International Trademark Association Annual Meeting).
          In 2013, KIPO assumed the lead role on the TM5 Website Project. On May 1, 2014, www.tmfive.org was launched. The official website will be updated regularly to provide information about collaborations between the Partners as well as various resources regarding the Partners’ offices (e.g., trademark laws, examination guidelines).
          The Partners have designated the JPO to act as the secretariat for the next Annual Meeting.
      B.

IT and E-Government Issues

           1. Trademarks Next Generation (TMNG)
          In 2009, the Director of the USPTO instructed the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) to separate the trademark information-technology infrastructure from all other USPTO IT infrastructure and implement an integrated IT system for end-to-end electronic processing of trademark applications and trademark registration maintenance. Trademarks Next Generation (TMNG) is intended to replace the patchwork of legacy applications and databases that operate on relatively old software.
          TMNG is intended to provide trademark owners and practitioners, as well as Examining Attorneys, with the tools needed for end-to-end electronic trademark processing, and to accommodate the dynamic information needs of trademark owners. During FY 2011 through FY 2014, the TMNG focus has been on internal examination capabilities.
          OCIO has focused on several internal and external-facing projects under TMNG. Although the scope of TMNG has broadened significantly since its inception, and the transition from existing legacy systems to a new, integrated system is now projected to continue until at least FY 2017, OCIO’s work on TMNG is progressing. OCIO continues its communication and cooperation with Trademarks, allowing both OCIO and Trademarks to agree upon business priorities and to update an agreed-upon action item list, grouped by tiers of relative importance. The priority items have been segregated by fiscal year and, as is typical with any project of this magnitude, priorities have at times shifted within the tier structure according to current need, budget and other factors at the USPTO.
          During FY 2014, OCIO made significant progress on several key projects.
TMNG- Internal
Content Management System
Trademark Reporting and DataMart
Trademark Records Management (TRM) – Data Synchronization and Migration
TMNG Infrastructure Services and Disaster Recovery Plans
Separation and Virtualization
Trademark ID Manual
Trademark Electronic Official Gazette
a. TMNG Internal
  The focus of this project is to provide Examining Attorneys with the tools needed during the examination phase. OCIO has made progress on providing updated capabilities to Trademark Examiners, including capabilities related to “First Action Approval for Publication” and a web-based user interface of X-Search. Usability testing with Examining Attorneys and Managing Attorneys has been completed, and the development of in-house Case Management System capabilities is on track.
b. Content Management System
  The TMNG Content Management System (CMS) is intended to improve an internal architectural system used by Examining Attorneys to give them the ability to accurately review, display and store all content related to a trademark application or registration file, including status and historical information. The plan is for TCMS to be used for all internal and external-facing TMNG components. Despite performance issues with the product selected in FY 2013, OCIO managed to develop a TCMS that provides the capability to accurately store and retrieve specific types of content in one location. The current focus is on the remaining capabilities that examiners need, as well as the content management capabilities needed for the Trademark Official Gazette.
  TPAC recognizes these accomplishments and encourages OCIO to continue making this project a priority.
c. Trademark Reporting and DataMart Program
  The goal of the Trademark Reporting and DataMart project is to separate report generation capabilities from the examination systems and to provide a simple user interface for generating reports. OCIO has successfully deployed releases with refinements to Employee Productivity and Form Paragraphs and internal reporting tools, completed the requirement analysis for registration processing and dashboard reporting, enhanced existing reports based on user feedback, and has initiated “brown bag” sessions for Trademarks uses to continue to support user acceptance.
  TPAC supports the effort to provide a simple user interface for generating reports.
d. Trademark Records Management (TRM) - Data Synchronization and Migration
  Progress continues on the TRM project, including installation of tools that help diagnose application discrepancies and eliminate potential manual errors. Synchronization has been developed for assigning a case and approval for publication. OCIO successfully completed synchronization testing between TMNG and the legacy mainframe. In addition, in a test run, 80 percent of the records required for examiner capabilities were migrated.
e. TMNG Infrastructure Services and Disaster Recovery Plans
  FAST1 and X-Search, two programs utilized extensively by Trademark Examining Attorneys, were deployed in a production verification testing environment. OCIO documented modifications required for TMNG Technical Stack for legacy integration: form paragraphs from FAST 1, X-Search integration with TMNG, and impact analysis is being conducted to assess Trademark legacy components required in TMNG.
f. Separation and Virtualization
  The goal of the Separation project was to mitigate system dependency risks by putting existing Trademark legacy applications and systems into an environment separate from Patent and other business systems. The OCIO has made progress on the separation over the last couple of years, and the last application to be separated, the Madrid application, was put it in production in the spring.
  TPAC commends OCIO on the completion of the TM NG Separation program and project.
  Virtualization of the IT infrastructure for Trademarks is intended to increase the agility and scalability of the systems, improve management of the systems, decrease power consumption, and reduce maintenance costs. This report focuses on two aspects of this project: Trademark Content Management System, discussed above, and Madrid Stabilization.
g. ID Manual
  The current and historical goods and services class identifications were loaded in the ID Manual and the following features were demonstrated: simple and enhanced search, record editing, and data retrieval. Given the significant investment to date in TMNG, TPAC welcomes the initiation of development projects that will be visible to external users.
h. Trademark Electronic Official Gazette (eOG)
  Multiple releases were deployed for features and enhancements to the (eOG), including downloadable ZIP file and full XML version of each TMOG issue, an “Employee Sign In” link, internal review capabilities, a “My List”, and resources tabs. The Appeals interface and improved record functionalities for identifying duplicate queries within the same issue were both completed in FY 2014.
           2. Trademark Legacy Improvements and Progress
          Continued progress was made on improvements to the Trademark legacy systems. In connection with TEAS and TEASi Forms, OCIO expanded sound and motion mark capabilities to other forms, developed internal capabilities to improve and streamline the upkeep of TEAS and TEASi Forms, and deployed text changes to the Legal Declaration to 55 TEAS Forms. Activity has begun on Phase 2 with focus on implementing certification mark rule changes, making enhancements to improve data accuracy, and implementing reduced fee options (TEAS RF).
          OCIO has categorized a project to stabilize the Madrid Processing system into three major areas: 1) improve ability to add new countries as they become members of the Madrid Protocol; 2) implement processing system for transformations that can be incorporated into Trademark docketing systems and 3) convert incoming paper international applications to XML format.
          OCIO completed Phase 1 development in FY2014 and Phase 2 activities, which were initiated earlier this year, are currently in the planning phase. These activities will focus on improving the workflow and user interface, and repairing defects in application functionality. The work on Phase 2 will carry over into FY2015.
          TPAC applauds OCIO’s focus on Madrid stabilization. The average cost of processing Madrid Protocol applications is significantly higher per application than traditional trademark applications, and completion of this project will allow trademark owners to benefit from reduced processing costs and faster processing time. This project is particularly important now that the system handles many more filings than previously required. The international expansion of trademarks and trademark protection has moved the priority of Madrid stabilization to the top tier.
          The Legacy Content Management Migration (LCMM) project is also progressing. OCIO deployed TEAS and TEASi into production, deployed the capability to capture application or registration snapshots, and consolidated repositories into the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS).
          TPAC embraces the idea that improvement must be made to the legacy systems while continuing to work on TMNG.
           3. Business Priorities and Wish List
          Trademark Operations continues to gather input from managers, employees, the unions that represent them, and from external users of trademark systems on their “wish lists” for TMNG functionality and has incorporated the wish lists into its business priorities. The business priorities are reviewed quarterly based on the latest information and insight from across the organization and from customer groups. TPAC encourages the representative constituents to continue to discuss such matters as TMNG progresses towards final conclusion and implementation.
          TPAC is encouraged by the continued communications and cooperation between Trademark Operations and OCIO. TPAC is mindful that projects are progressing but that progress has been slower than originally anticipated on a number of projects and that much work remains. TPAC encourages Trademarks and OCIO to continue to focus on the completion and implementation of TMNG, as this system currently represents a significant investment by trademark customers, who look forward to beginning to see the benefits of that investment as TMNG systems come on line. TPAC acknowledges the hard work and partnership of OCIO staff, under the leadership of John Owens (Chief Information Officer) and Rajeev Dolas (TMNG Portfolio Manager). These members of OCIO met with the IT Subcommittee of TPAC throughout the year to discuss how best to implement TMNG and to keep us current on progress. TPAC is grateful for their patience, accessibility and assistance.
      C.

Budget and Funding Issues.

           1. Effect of the 2013 Sequester
          In March 2013 the USPTO was subject to a Sequester that resulted in an across-the-board spending cut of all discretionary federal budgets. Although the USPTO is completely funded by user fees, it was not exempt from across-the-board spending cuts. The USPTO was able to make adjustments in FY 2013 spending to stay within the spending caps set by the Sequester. The USPTO was initially held to reduced spending authority into FY 2014, due to the lapse in spending authority that resulted in a government shutdown for most federal agencies. The USPTO was able to keep the agency operational by limiting spending and by accessing funding from previously authorized reserves. The decrease in spending primarily impacted shared enterprise IT projects and Patent hiring.
          Congress subsequently passed a 2-year budget resolution that set limits within the spending caps for FY 2014 and 2015. As a result, the USPTO received its full FY 2014 appropriation with the passage of its spending bill in January. The USPTO has moved forward on its spending plan to advance enterprise-wide IT projects and hiring.
          The America Invents Act (AIA) (P.L. 112-29) established the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund for fees that are collected above the appropriation amount. The fund is maintained in the United States Treasury. The Consolidated Act. 2014 (P.L. 113‐76) provides USPTO with $3.024B in spending authority during FY 2014. Any fees collected in excess of that authority are deposited in the Patent and Trademark Fee Reserve Fund and available to the USPTO through Congressional reprogramming. The USPTO expects FY 2014 fee collections to exceed its appropriation authority for the first time since the AIA was implemented.
          Although TPAC is pleased that the 2-year budget resolution for FY 2014 and 2015 should allow the USPTO to receive appropriations at a level that permits the continuation of necessary operations and the progress of important office-wide initiatives, particularly IT projects, TPAC remains concerned that these measures still do not provide an adequate long-term solution to enable USPTO to engage in appropriate planning and to invest user fees in long-term or multi-year projects. TPAC continues to support amendments that would allow the USPTO full access to user-generated fee income.
           2. Trademark Registration/ Renewal Fees
          In May 2014, the USPTO proposed in the Federal Register (Vol.79/No. 90) a reduction in certain trademark fees authorized by AIA that would reduce trademark collection fees and promote efficiency through increased use of electronic filing and processing. TPAC anticipates that a fee reduction will be implemented in January, 2015. The reduction is as follows:
          - Reduce by $50.00 the fee for applications filed using the regular TEAS application, if applicant authorizes email communication (a change from $325 to $275 per class),
          - Reduce by $50.00 fee for TEAS Plus (a change from $275 to $225 per class), and
          - Reduce by $100 the fee for filing a TEAS Renewal of Registration (a change from $400 to $300 per class).
          It is noted that the application fee of $375 per class for paper filing will not change.
          The TPAC applauds the Trademark Office for its efficiency and its ability to pass savings on to its customers. After careful consultation with Trademarks, TPAC is comfortable that this proposed reduction in fees will not adversely impact the operation of Trademarks or the continuation of any essential projects and, further, that the Trademarks Operation Reserve will remain at acceptable levels, based on the best available projections.
           3. USPTO Use of Activity-Based Information System Accounting
          Under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) a “fence” was established for both patent and trademark fees, to clearly distinguish spending of user fees between the two operations. There are only two sources of revenue to support the USPTO: 1) Patent user fees and 2) Trademark user fees. While patent examination and trademark examination are clearly separate operations, the USPTO operates as an enterprise with shared services for many of its administrative functions, including: Office of the Chief Information Officer, Office of Chief Financial Officer, Office of Policy and International Affairs, Office of General Counsel and Office of the Director. Funding for these shared operations must therefore be appropriately allocated between Patent and Trademark user fees, to ensure that user fees derived from each side of the “fence” are only invested for an appropriate allocable share of these services.
          Activity Based Information Accounting (ABI) has proven to be a highly effective tool in Trademarks and in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), supporting better decisions in management and providing significantly improved metrics. In the 2013 Annual Report, TPAC recommended that the Office of the Chief Financial Officer extend and expand the ABI model in areas of shared support services, to better ensure that the fences in both patents and trademarks are respected. TPAC believes that the use of ABI in these shared services areas will also facilitate better monitoring of tasks and activities throughout the USPTO. In addition, use of the ABI system will provide transparency and further support of the fences around both Patent and Trademark user fees.
           4. Office of the Chief Information Officer
          In 2013 and 2014 certain enterprise-wide IT projects were delayed due to the Sequester. After Congress passed a two-year budget, all IT projects moved “full speed ahead,” according to the Chief Financial Officer. Funds were available through 2014 to continue the projects. It appears, however, that funds may be needed in 2015 from the operating reserve to support projects in the out years. TPAC is concerned about the need to reduce the Trademark Operating Reserve, particularly for projects that are ongoing and that should have been planned for in normal budget projections and planning. TPAC strongly encourages OCIO to work to limit the impact of investment in these projects on the Operating Reserve and to work to provide better advance notice of funding needs that can readily be anticipated.
          As discussed below, TPAC is also concerned that the investment of Trademark user fees on certain IT projects, such as TMNG, has continued for years beyond initial projections and has expanded well beyond original budget forecasts. Although IT systems are crucial to the effective operation of our trademark system, greater oversight, planning and transparency is necessary, to enable users of the trademark system to better understand and evaluate the investment of their user fees in these systems.
           5. Office of Policy and International Affairs
          TPAC continues to monitor use of Trademark user fees in support of the trademark community, we have become increasingly concerned about the allocation and investment of Trademark user fees to support projects that are not directly supervised or controlled by Trademarks. The Office of Policy and International Affairs proportionately is one of the fasting-growing organizations within the USPTO, and Trademark user fees represent a significant percentage of the funding for this operation, well in excess of the proportionate size of Trademarks within the Office. TPAC is concerned with the continuing expansion of the Office of Policy and International Affairs, especially the IP Attaché Program. Although this program appears to provide some value to the IP community, TPAC has been unable, after repeated attempts, to identify the specific trademark issues that are being addressed by IP Attachés or to identify any principled method – such as the ABI Model discussed above – for allocating Trademark user fees and Patent user fees to support this Office.
          In light of these concerns, TPAC has met with OPIA leadership, and TPAC is pleased to learn that OPIA will continue to increase its outreach efforts, to make the trademark community aware of the availability of this resource. OPIA will also work to adopt ABI accounting methods and to explore other ways to more accurately account for its trademark-related activities. TPAC looks forward to building on this base and to continuing to work with OPIA on these issues.
      D.

Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

           1. Precedential Decisions
          The TTAB has continued to issue a number of precedential decisions, with a total of 45 precedents in FY 2014. The issuance of precedential decisions gives trademark owners guidance on substantive trademark issues arising in both appeal and trial cases, as well as clarification of evidentiary and procedural issues that may arise in TTAB cases. During FY 2014, the TTAB issued precedential decisions addressing a number of issues, including: scandalous marks, disparaging marks, dilution, specimen issues, abandonment, void ab initio claims, procedural and discovery issues in inter partes cases, as well as likelihood of confusion, descriptiveness, genericness, and others.
          TPAC notes that the increased number of precedential decisions addressing procedural and discovery issues in inter partes cases, in particular, was a positive development because it provides further guidance and clarification on practice and procedures before the Board. TPAC also encourages the TTAB to make precedential decisions readily available to the public by posting clear and separate links to such decisions on its website promptly after the decisions are issued.
           2. Performance Statistics
          In FY 2014, the TTAB continued its hard work to increase productivity where necessary, and to maintain a low inventory of both cases awaiting final decision and cases awaiting decision on contested motions. This year, as detailed below, TPAC was pleased to note that the TTAB met key performance goals and metrics. Because the TTAB is the tribunal of choice for many trademark owners or applicants, it is important that the TTAB continue to offer efficient and expedited decisions in order to maintain its reputation as the place to go to resolve trademark disputes.
           3. Oppositions and Cancellation Proceedings
          In FY 2014, there was a slight 4.4% increase in the number of oppositions filed, from 5,278 in FY 2013 to 5,509 in FY 2014. Cancellations increased a more noteworthy 13.8%, with 1,722 filed, compared to 1,513 filed in FY 2013. This continues a trend of an increase in trial case filings from FY 2010, when the overall economy started to improve following the 2008 down turn.
           4. Pendency and Inventory Goals
          In FY 2013, the TTAB set and disclosed goals for pendency and began to measure its performance against those goals, giving both the agency and the public valuable guidance for monitoring the TTAB’s performance and time-frames for tracking cases and decisions. For appeal and trial cases in need of final decisions on the merits in FY 2014, the TTAB goal was to decide the cases within a 10-12 week range, as measured from the dates the respective cases became ready-for-final decision (RFD). This is an average time frame for all issued non-precedential final decisions in both ex parte appeals and inter partes trial cases, with each case captured in the average measured from, as appropriate, the oral hearing date or the submission on brief date, until the decision is issued. The TTAB also set a goal to issue non-precedential decisions on contested motions between 8-9 weeks on average from the RFD date (i.e., the date the motion is fully briefed), and a goal for the age of the oldest contested motion ready for decision to be no more than 12 weeks. The TTAB also set inventory goals for cases awaiting final decisions and awaiting decisions on contested motions. For finals, the target inventory range was set at 115-135 cases; and for contested motions, the target inventory range was set at 130-160 cases with contested motions awaiting a decision. The TTAB met or bettered both of these goals.
          TPAC applauds the TTAB for setting objective performance goals and for tracking its progress against those goals. These performance measures assist both the Board and the public in monitoring overall workflow and progress on an ongoing basis.
           5. Final Decision and Overall Average Pendency
          The TTAB achieved a reduction in the average pendency of issued final decisions (excluding precedential decisions) from RFD date to 9.2 weeks in FY 2014, down from the FY 2012 levels that peaked at 24 weeks, and even lower than the TTAB’s above-referenced target of 10-12 weeks. This 9.2 week average represents a 48% reduction from the FY 2013 average pendency of 17.7 weeks. TPAC recognizes that these overall reduced pendency averages for final decisions reflect the TTAB’s hard work and continued focus on productivity and output from the Administrative Trademark Judges (ATJ). The Board’s ATJs, under the leadership of Chief Judge Gerard Rogers, issued 676 final decisions in FY 2013, which helped clear backlogs and keep the TTAB on track to meet pendency goals for final decisions in FY 2014, as the Board shifted its focus from backlog reduction to inventory maintenance.
          In FY 2014, the TTAB also tracked average pendency of non-precedential final decisions separately by type of case, with ex parte appeals decided within an average of 9.3 weeks from RFD and inter partes trial cases decided within an average of 9.1 weeks from RFD. TPAC was pleased that the TTAB has provided such detailed data on cases ready-for-decision because it gives the agency and the public a clearer measure to track such decisions.
          At the request of TPAC, the TTAB is also now tracking average pendency of precedential final decisions, again measured from RFD to the date of the decision.
          For all precedential final decisions issued in FY 2014, the average pendency in ex parte appeals was 28.5 weeks, and in trial (inter partes) cases was 42.6 weeks. While both of these measures are higher than those for non-precedential decisions, the number of precedents is relatively small when compared to the number of non-precedential decisions; and therefore even a few cases that take longer to complete can skew the averages. Nonetheless, the Board will pay increased attention to process improvements that will extract time savings from the process of preparing and issuing these precedential decisions.
          As of the end of FY 2014, the TTAB has 81 appeal cases and 24 trial cases in its inventory of 105 cases ready for decision.
          The average “end to end” or “commencement to completion” pendency of trial cases (i.e., inter partes cases) was reduced 12.8% to 165.2 weeks in FY 2014, down from 189.5 weeks in FY 2013. The median pendency of trial cases was reduced 13.9% to 142 weeks in FY 2014, compared to the FY 2013 median of 165 weeks. These FY 2014 reductions follow similar reductions in FY 2013.
          For ex parte appeals in FY 2014, the average “end to end” processing time was 43.8 weeks, a decrease of 12% from FY 2013 processing time of 49.8 weeks. TPAC is pleased that average ex parte appeal pendency levels have been reduced back to FY 2009 and 2010 levels, when average pendency for an ex parte appeal was 44 and 45.5 weeks, respectively. Median pendency for appeals in FY 2014 was reduced 18.2% to 36 weeks down from 44 weeks in FY 2013.
           6. Contested Motions
          Under the leadership of Managing Attorney Kenneth Solomon, in FY 2014, the TTAB reduced the time to issue non-precedential decisions on contested motions by 32.3%, from 13.3 weeks in FY 2013 to 9 weeks in FY 2014, falling within the above referenced target of 8-9 weeks. The age of the oldest contested motion ready for decision at the end of FY 2014 was 11.9 weeks, compared to 15.4 weeks at the end of FY 2013, and better than the 12 week target for the age of the oldest contested motion. The TTAB also met its inventory target, with 135 cases awaiting a decision on one or more contested motions at the end of FY 2014. Although the FY 2014 inventory of contested motions awaiting decision reflects a slight increase of 3.8 % from the year-end inventory of 130 in FY 2013, the TTAB is closely monitoring inventory status and meeting targets. TPAC is confident that the TTAB will continue to make strides in its handling of contested motions, and in its management of the inventory of such motions to remain within stated goals.
          TPAC is heartened by the overall positive performance of the TTAB in FY 2014. The TTAB has met most goals, and skillfully managed case inventories and decisions issued under the leadership of Chief Judge Rogers, and the valuable contributions from the ATJs, Interlocutory Attorneys, Paralegals, and staff. In addition, Meryl Hershkowitz, Group Director from Trademark Operations, has continued to assist Chief Judge Rogers in improving the efficiency of the TTAB. Group Director Hershkowitz provided critical guidance and leadership, and the teamwork exhibited by her and Chief Judge Rogers has led to many significant accomplishments from FY 2013 to FY 2014. TPAC commends Commissioner Cohn for providing leadership to the process and for allowing Ms. Hershkowitz to continue assisting the TTAB in FY 2014. Further, for the supervisor of the Interlocutory Attorneys, Kenneth Solomon, contributed significantly to the overall success of the TTAB’s performance.
           7. Active Inter Parties Cases Pending Under “Old Rules”
          In November 2007, the TTAB instituted a major rules change that impacted cases filed from that point on. For the last several years, the TTAB has been working to move all the "old rules" cases to final decision. The Board has made significant progress in that regard in FY 2014, as only 14 such cases are proceeding through litigation at the Board, with three of these in the process of being scheduled for final oral argument and one being the subject of a request for reconsideration after final. There are 50 cases commenced prior to November 2007 that are not under the Board’s sole control, because they are suspended for another proceeding, have been remanded to a Trademark Examining Attorney, or have been decided and are in the appeal period or on appeal.
          With the 14 cases that are “on track”, the TTAB has issued interlocutory orders to set schedules for completing discovery. In many cases, TTAB Interlocutory Attorneys and/or ATJs have utilized telephone conferences to discuss the status of “old rules” cases, including detailed updates on settlement discussions, if any.
          While TPAC recognizes that there are some cases over which the TTAB has no ability to control the scheduling, such as those suspended because of a Federal court matter, our Committee commends the TTAB for its active management of the remaining “old rules” cases. TPAC, like the TTAB, looks forward to the day when the Board will no longer have to operate under two different sets of rules.
           8. TTAB Leadership and Staffing
          In FY 2014, the TTAB hired Susan M. Richey for the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Trademark Judge. The post of Deputy Chief ATJ is a new position at the TTAB that will be critical for management and leadership at the Board. Deputy Chief Judge Richey will be responsible for backing up Chief Judge Rogers on all management issues for the Board.
          As the position is new to the Board Chief Judge Rogers and Deputy Chief Judge Richey will be analyzing Board operations during FY 2015 and determining how best to structure the management and administrative staff and tasks at the Board.
          In addition, Kenneth Solomon, Managing Attorney for the Interlocutory Attorneys, has proven to be an important manager within the TTAB’s operation, and he will continue to work with the Interlocutory Attorneys to manage the inventory of contested motions.
          Cheryl Butler, Senior Attorney and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP) Editor for the TTAB, has also played a key role at the TTAB. She was responsible for the updating and release of the fourth edition of the TBMP, which was published on schedule and she contributed in many other ways to improve TTAB processes and transparency. Most recently, the TBMP has been successfully entered into the RDMS system through which the TMEP and MPEP are edited and released to the public. The TBMP will be available in this form by November 2014.
          Karen Smith was recently hired to support Chief Judge Rogers and the administrative operations of the TTAB efficiently and effectively. She has extensive experience in the agency, and will provide valuable support to the TTAB, focusing on human resources, budget, IT and other issues.
          The TTAB currently has 21 ATJs, 12 Interlocutory Attorneys, 11 paralegals, and 17 other staff members, apart from the senior managers referenced above. In FY 2014, the TTAB hired 3 new paralegals to assist with its uncontested motion inventory. Cheryl Goodman was appointed to the position of ATJ on October 1, 2014, filling a vacancy that had occurred earlier in the year due to a retirement. Ms. Goodman had served as an Interlocutory Attorney, and prior to that as an Examining Attorney in the USPTO Operations. In addition, the TTAB plans to hire another attorney to replace Ms. Goodman, which will return the attorney total to 13, and may add attorneys or judges during FY 2015 depending on workload requirements. TPAC supports the TTAB’s efforts to increase staffing to continue to efficiently and expeditiously manage increases in new filings and case load.
          As TPAC noted in 2013, the TTAB had a work project with Examining Attorneys from the Trademark Operations, engaging selected attorneys to assist ATJs for approximately four months on cases with medium or large records. Some of these attorneys worked on multiple cases consolidated for a single decision, while others worked on multiple, unrelated cases. Some of these cases presented legal issues that required research and briefing. In addition, some of the cases involved evidentiary objections and disputes that required review by the detailee and supervising ATJ. This program has proven to be valuable both to the TTAB and to the Examining Attorneys, who gain additional valuable experience. TPAC commends the leadership and cooperation of Commissioner Cohn and Chief Judge Rogers in developing and supporting this program. In FY 2014, the Board returned to its traditional detail for examining attorneys, having them work with Board interlocutory attorneys on motion practice in trial cases. In the future, the Board may, as necessary, alternate the “large record work project” with the traditional “interlocutory detail.”
          In addition, in FY 2013 and FY 2014 the Board utilized law students as summer externs to work on large record cases in both contested and uncontested matters, and on various other research projects.
          It is clear that the use of detailees and summer externs helped the TTAB manage caseloads more efficiently. TPAC supports the TTAB as it continues to consider future details, work projects, and law student programs to help the ATJs and Interlocutory Attorneys with cases. Such programs are also valuable exposure and experience for the Examining Attorneys.
           9. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP)
          In June 2014, just one year after the revised Third Edition had been published, the TTAB published the Fourth Edition of the TBMP. This updated version of the TBMP incorporates amendments to the Trademark Act, the Trademark Rules of Practice, and the Federal Rules, and relevant case law. The content additions and revisions reflect practice updates between March 1, 2013 and February 28, 2014. TPAC has consistently encouraged the TTAB to revise and update the TBMP on at least an annual basis, and the TTAB has now done so for the past several years. Keeping the TBMP up to date through consecutive annual revisions is critical for both the TTAB and those who practice before it.
          Further, in FY 2013, the TTAB launched the IdeaScale® tool for the TBMP, to allow users to provide comments and input. Most recently, the TTAB launched IdeaScale® for Chapter 400 of the TBMP, covering discovery.
          TPAC commends Cheryl Butler, Senior Attorney and Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP) Editor, for her outstanding work on these important TTAB resources.
          i.    Accelerated Case Resolution (ACR)
          The TTAB continued in FY 2014 to advocate that parties adopt ACR, and those cases in which ACR was agreed to by parties showed that ACR does significantly improve the speed at which a matter is resolved, and therefore may reduce costs associated with the proceeding. Because ACR can be adopted by the parties at any time during the pendency of a case, the statistics on ACR do not always reflect the great efficiencies of ACR cases, as some parties only agree to a form of ACR after significant investment of time and resources in discovery and motion practice. It is clear, however, that even when parties stipulate to ACR–type procedures later in a proceeding, they still realize significant time-saving benefits.
          In FY 2013, for example, the average end-to-end pendency for an ACR case was 114.2 weeks, about 40% lower overall than a case employing standard discovery and trial methods. Similarly, in FY 2014, average ACR commencement to completion pendency was 136.3 weeks, about 17.5% lower overall compared to the traditional trial schedule cases.
          The TTAB has also committed to accelerate issuing final decisions in ACR cases. For example, if parties agree to use the bench trial or cross-motions for summary judgment model for ACR and the Board approves the trial of the case by ACR, the Board generally will render a final decision within 50 days following completion of the briefing (compared to the overall 10-12 week target for pendency of non-precedential final decisions). See TBMP 702.04(a).
          The TTAB web site provides detailed information and representative case listings concerning ACR, which is regularly updated. The web site also includes “plug and play” options, including one set suggested by American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA), and another set of possible approaches proposed by the TTAB. The parties to a TTAB proceeding may opt to follow the “plug and play” options, or agree to pursue other ACR-type procedures by filing a stipulation with TTAB approval. The TTAB also actively seeks public suggestions on ACR with its dedicated mailbox for ACR: ACRsuggestions@uspto.gov.
          For example, in some cases, the parties have stipulated that the briefs and evidence filed in conjunction with a summary judgment motion can be used as the trial record and briefs, thereby presenting the case for final decision on the merits without the need for traditional trial and briefing. This approach requires the parties to expressly stipulate that the Board can resolve any issues of material fact not stipulated to by the parties or which may have been overlooked or unforeseen by the parties. Another common approach to ACR involves the parties agreeing upon alternatives to traditional discovery, trial and briefing. Indeed, a key benefit of ACR is that it is very flexible and the parties can design an approach that meets the needs of their case.
          A major hurdle that precludes the adoption of ACR more broadly has been a lack of awareness on the part of practitioners. To that end, the TTAB has been very active over the last few years promoting ACR with information on the TTAB web site, through presentations at major IP events, and through articles, webinars, and other speeches.
          Although the TTAB has consistently promoted ACR, parties still seem reluctant to opt for this flexible and time-saving procedure. In FY 2012 and FY 2013, there were only 9 cases each year in which the litigants opted for ACR. In FY 2014, however, there were 21 cases decided on the merits following use of some form of ACR, representing an increase of 133% over the previous high of 9 such cases. Significantly, approximately one of every six trial cases decided on the merits during FY 2014 involved some form of ACR.
          TPAC hopes that parties to TTAB proceedings will increasingly take advantage of this valuable method to more quickly and efficiently resolve disputed trademark issues. TPAC encourages intellectual property associations, Continuing Legal Education (CLE) providers and others to assist in making practitioners more aware of the availability of ACR options in proceedings before the TTAB and in discussing the significant benefits available through the use of ACR.
          As noted in previous reports, on November 28, 2012, Chief Judge Rogers convened a TTAB Roundtable to obtain user feedback on the use of Accelerated Case Resolution in TTAB Inter Partes Proceedings. TPAC was represented at the Roundtable by Kathryn Barrett Park, and TPAC Member Linda McLeod also participated in her capacity as a representative of AIPLA. Moderating the discussion were Chief Judge Rogers and Administrative Trademark Judge Peter Cataldo. In FY 2014, the TTAB received additional comments regarding ACR from the ABA IP Section.
          Both the TTAB and the public have had over two years to consider, discuss, and use ACR in TTAB cases. TPAC encourages the TTAB to now consider appropriate action in FY 2015, such as proposed rule-making, to memorialize the ACR procedures as the preferred and most efficient schedule for cases before the tribunal.
          ii.    TTAB Dashboard
          In FY 2013, the TTAB introduced a new TTAB Dashboard, to provide users with easy-to-understand visuals showing important TTAB statistics, which is now part of the USPTO Data Visualization Center. The TTAB dashboards are available to the public and open for public use and comment at TTABdashboards@uspto.gov.
          The dashboards report on a quarterly basis statistics on:
                      Pendency of final decisions and contested motions
                      The volume and types of new filings
                      The number of different proceedings pending
                      Pending appeals maturing to Ready-for-Decision (“RFD”)
                      Pending appeals in inventory
                      The age of pending appeals
                      Pending oppositions and cancellations maturing to RFD
                      Pending oppositions and cancellations in inventory
                      The age of pending trial cases
                      Trial case contested motions(by type) that are ready for decision
                      Trial case contested motions (by type) in inventory and the age of pending motions (by type)
          TPAC is very encouraged by the continued development and use of the TTAB dashboards, which will show trends and timelines for action at the TTAB.
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 266 

Errata
                                    Errata

   "All references to Patent No. D. 716,194 to MILES NURNBERGER of GAYDON,
UNITED KINGDOM for AUTOMOBILE GRILLE OR REPRESENTATION THEREOF appearing
in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no
patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,048 to TIMOTHY REYNOLDS of
Sunnyvale, CA for CLIP APPLIER AND METHODS OF USE appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent
was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,099 to KUI-CHIU KWOK of Gurnee, IL
for PNEUMATIC ATOMIZATION NOZZLE FOR WEB MOISTENING appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,239 to CHEONG NG of Novi, MI for
BRUNNIAN LINK MAKING DEVICE AND KIT appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,314 to INGO GASSER of HOECHST,
AUSTRIA for DRAWER STRUCTURE appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,422 to YASUHIRO UKAI of Aichi-ken,
JP for LIGHTING DEVICE FOR VEHICLE appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,578 to HIDENORI KANDA of
Makinohara-shi, JP for CONNECTOR FOR A CIRCUIT BOARD appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,583 to TOHRU KOBAYASHI of
Makinohara-shi, JP for LEVER TYPE CONNECTOR appearing in the Official
Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,603 to ALBERT GOLKO of Saratoga, CA
for EXTERNAL CONTACT PLUG CONNECTOR appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,648 to WILLIAM LEVY of Boynton
Beach, FL for VERIFICATION SYSTEM FOR ON-LINE GAMERS PERFORMING AUTOMATIC
VERIFICATION OF GAME RESULTS appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,660 to JEFFREY S. TOPHAM, ET AL of
LAS VEGAS, NV for CASINO GAME DOWNLOAD SYSTEM AND METHOD OF USE appearing
in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no
patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,874 to JERRY STERRETT of Naples, FL
for COMBINED FLIP CUTTER AND DRILL appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,870,885 to WES JOHNSON of Eden Prairie,
MN for EXPANSION MEMBER FOR INSERTION INTO A BODY TISSUE SPACE appearing in
the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent
was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,871,188 to DAVID F. WOODWARD, ET AL of
LAKE FOREST, CA for METHOD OF ENHANCING HAIR GROWTH appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 267 


   "All references to Patent No. 8,871,231 to JAY RAY of Conroe, TX for
TOPICAL COMPOSITIONS TO TREAT CIRCULATORY DISORDERS appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,871,472 to JUN LEE, ET AL of SAN DIEGO,
CA for COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR REVERSE TRANSCRIPTASE-POLYMERASE
CHAIN REACTION (RT-PCR) appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28,
2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,871,495 to ROY JOHNSON of Oconomowoc,
WI for REDUCING INSOLUBLE DEPOSIT FORMATION IN ETHANOL PRODUCTION
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,871,580 to HIDETO OHNUMA of Atsugi, JP
for METHOD FOR MANUFACTURING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,871,803 to SUNG LEE of Montville, NJ
for METHODS FOR TREATING FIBROMYALGIA SYNDROME appearing in the Official
Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,871,804 to SUNG LEE of Montville, NJ for
METHODS FOR TREATING ATTENTION-DEFICIT/HYPERACTIVITY DISORDER appearing in
the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent
was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,036 to YASUSH TAMURA OF Osaka, JP
for SUSPENSION BOARD WITH CIRCUIT AND PRODUCING METHOD THEREOF appearing
in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no
patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,163 to MASATOSHI SAITO of Chiba, JP
for FUSED RING COMPOUNDS USEFUL IN ORGANIC THIN-FILM TRANSISTORS appearing
in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no
patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,185 to SHUNPEI YAMAZAKI of Tokyo, JP
for DISPLAY DEVICE HAVING LIGHT EMITTING ELEMENTS WITH RED COLOR FILTERS
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,199 to RONAN LETOQUIN of Fremont, CA
for RECIPIENT LUMINOPHORIC MEDIUMS HAVING NARROW SPECTRUM LUMINESCENT
MATERIALS AND RELATED SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHT EMITTING DEVICES AND METHODS
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,343 to TSUYOSHI TAKAYAMA of Tokyo,
JP for SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,365 to SADHASIVAM VALLINAYAGAM of
Hyderabad, IN for SYSTEM FOR COOLING POWER GENERATION SYSTEM appearing in
the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent
was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,410 to MUNEHISA WATANABE, ET AL of
NAGAOKAKYO-SHI, JAPAN for ELASTIC WAVE DEVICE AND METHOD FOR
MANUFACTURING THE SAME appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28,
2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,450 to KAZUHIKO FUNABASHI of
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 268 

Hitachinaka-shi, JP for ELECTRIC OPERATING MACHINE appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent
was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,493 to GIOVANNI BISSON, ET AL of
PADOVA, ITALY for LOW-DROPOUT VOLTAGE REGULATOR appearing in the Official
Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,566 to MASAKUNI KAWAGOE of MIYAZAKI,
JP for INTEGRATED CIRCUIT HAVING LATCH CIRCUITS AND USING DELAY CIRCUITS TO
FETCH DATA BITS IN SYNCHRONIZATION WITH CLOCK SIGNALS appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,584 to MICHAEL NUSSBAUM of Newton,
MA for VERSATILE AUDIO POWER AMPLIFIER appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,591 to PO HSUEH of New Taipei City,
TW for TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION CIRCUIT AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH
TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28,
2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,612 to VASSILI KIREEV of SUNNYVALE,
CA for STACKED INDUCTOR STRUCTURE appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,642 to TSAI CHANG of Hsinchu, TW for
AUTOMOBILE WARNING METHOD AND AUTOMOBILE WARNING SYSTEM UTILIZING THE SAME
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,681 to SHINYA SUDO of Tokyo, JP
for OPTICAL INTENSITY-TO-PHASE CONVERTER, MACH-ZEHNDER INTERFEROMETER,
OPTICAL A/D CONVERTER, AND METHOD OF CONSTRUCTING OPTICAL
INTENSITY-TO-PHASE CONVERTER appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,815 to THOMAS HANTSCHEL, ET AL of
ALDENHOVEN, GERMANY for PROSPECT ASSESSMENT AND PLAY CHANCE MAPPING TOOLS
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,840 to MARTIN CHAKIROV of
Trelleborg, SE for DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROCESSING USER INPUT appearing in
the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent
was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,863 to YOSHIHARU HIRAKATA of Ebina,
JP for METHOD FOR DRIVING LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,952 to KIA SILVERBROOK of Balmain,
AU for IMAGE CAPTURE AND PROCESSING INTEGRATED CIRCUIT FOR A CAMERA
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,872,967 to YASUHIRO OKABE of Kanagawa,
JP for IMAGING UNIT AND INSTALLATION DEVICE appearing in the Official
Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,230 to PETER SCHADE of Fremont, CA
for PORTABLE USB MASS STORAGE DEVICE appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 269 

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,253 to HUAWEI LV of Shanghai, CN for
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR ZERO VOLTAGE SWITCHING IN POWER CONVERSION SYSTEMS
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,338 to FLETCHER A. BLACKMON, ET AL
of FORESTDALE, MA for LASER-BASED OPTO-ACOUSTIC AND ACOUSTO-OPTIC
COMMUNICATION NETWORK appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014
should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,355 to RON KADLEC of Longmont, CO
for SERVO PROCESSOR RECEIVING PHOTODETECTOR SIGNALS appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,397 to KOICHIRO WATANABE of TOKYO,
JAPAN for TRANSMISSION CONTROL APPARATUS AND TRANSMISSION CONTROL METHOD
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,473 to TAKAYOSHI ODE of Kawasaki, JP
for WIRELESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM AND WIRELESS TERMINAL DEVICE appearing
in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no
patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,653 to BRANISLAV POPOVIC of Kista,
SE for METHOD FOR IMPROVING SYNCHRONIZATION AND INFORMATION TRANSMISSION
IN A COMMUNICATION SYSTEM appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,873,860 to PETRONEL BIGIOI of Galway,
IE for REAL-TIME VIDEO FRAME PRE-PROCESSING HARDWARE appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,042 to PATRICK LUDWIG of Renton, WA
for SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING A LOSS OF COMMUNICATION USING
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014
should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,066 to HAJIME HASEGAWA of Kawasaki,
JP for WIRELESS BASE STATION AND METHOD FOR EMERGENCY INFORMATION
DELIVERY appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be
deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,092 to THOMAS MURPHY of Ottawa, CA
for ADMINISTRATION OF WIRELESS SYSTEMS appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,165 to TIEJUN WANG of Alexandria, VA
for METHODS, SYSTEMS AND APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING THE MULTIMEDIA
INFORMATION FROM WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS appearing in the Official
Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,202 to RODOLPHE KATRA, ET AL of
BLAINE, MN for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PERSONALIZED PHYSIOLOGIC PARAMETERS
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,225 to JENS ELLRICH, ET AL of
LANGENSENDELBACH, GERMANY for DEVICE AND METHOD FOR APPLYING A
TRANSCUTANEOUS ELECTRICAL STIMULATION TO THE SURFACE OF A SECTION OF THE
HUMAN EAR appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be
deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,271 to PAUL M. BOSSCHER, ET AL of
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 270 

WEST MELBOURNE, FL for TELEMATIC INTERFACE WITH DIRECTIONAL TRANSLATION
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,272 to PAUL M. BOSSCHER, ET AL of
WEST MELBOURNE, FL for TELEMATIC INTERFACE WITH CONTROL SIGNAL SCALING
BASED ON FORCE SENSOR FEEDBACK appearing in the Official Gazette of October
28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,308 to KIMIAKI ONO of Shizuoka-Ken,
JP for POWER STEERING DEVICE appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,368 to NOBUHIRO MIZUNO of Tokyo, JP
for NAVIGATION APPARATUS, NAVIGATION METHOD, AND NAVIGATION PROGRAM
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,537 to JARMO ARPONEN, ET AL of
ESPOO, FINLAND for CONTENT STORING DEVICE QUERY appearing in the Official
Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,582 to WEN YAN MIAO of Hangzhou, CN
for METHOD AND APPARATUS OF DETERMINING PRODUCT CATEGORY INFORMATION
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,603 to YUHENG XIE of Hangzhou, CN
for METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR QUERYING INFORMATION appearing in the Official
Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,716 to DERIN ZERR of Sioux Falls, SD
for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PAIRING A MOBILE DEVICE TO AN OUTPUT DEVICE
appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted
since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,857 to ROY CLARK of Hopkinton, MA
for SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVING CACHE PERFORMANCE appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,874,871 to STEPHEN STRUTT of Bucks, GB
for METHOD, APPARATUS AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR PROVISIONING A STORAGE
VOLUME TO A VIRTUAL SERVER appearing in the Official Gazette of
October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,875,005 to YANG CAO of Longmont, CO for
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR LOW LATENCY MEDIA DEFECT DETECTION appearing in the
Official Gazette of October 28, 2014 should be deleted since no patent was
granted."

   "All references to Patent No. 8,875,130 to WILLIAM SOBEL of Jamul, CA
for METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INJECTING ENDPOINT MANAGEMENT AGENTS INTO
VIRTUAL MACHINES appearing in the Official Gazette of October 28, 2014
should be deleted since no patent was granted."
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 271 

Certificates of Correction
                          Certificates of Correction
                             for November 4, 2014

6,239,124             8,472,509           8,730,888             8,778,307
6,545,621             8,473,532           8,731,645             8,778,433
6,607,705             8,473,534           8,731,715             8,778,454
6,856,355             8,476,277           8,732,643             8,778,579
6,865,167             8,483,593           8,732,690             8,778,636
6,959,723             8,489,598           8,732,787             8,778,659
7,119,061             8,497,246           8,733,985             8,778,723
7,191,718             8,498,673           8,734,410             8,778,930
7,347,640             8,498,698           8,734,835             8,778,989
7,524,409             8,501,970           8,735,025             8,779,070
7,711,115             8,503,533           8,735,425             8,779,121
7,868,134             8,505,909           8,735,620             8,779,122
7,901,185             8,510,186           8,736,039             8,779,172
7,948,918             8,510,822           8,736,476             8,779,199
7,974,602             8,513,184           8,737,111             8,779,241
7,994,299             8,516,066           8,737,271             8,779,963
7,995,597             8,518,871           8,737,547             8,780,383
7,997,907             8,522,148           8,738,968             8,780,492
8,009,626             8,527,968           8,738,992             8,780,922
8,021,386             8,529,515           8,740,509             8,780,989
8,036,728             8,538,743           8,741,186             8,781,161
8,041,362             8,546,637           8,743,926             8,781,252
8,110,659             8,547,532           8,744,987             8,781,462
8,112,776             8,548,490           8,746,146             8,782,130
8,132,197             8,553,676           8,748,151             8,782,428
8,175,166             8,575,068           8,748,577             8,782,466
8,197,746             8,578,001           8,748,930             8,782,652
8,198,084             8,587,706           8,749,952             8,782,655
8,200,687             8,605,786           8,750,058             8,783,055
8,200,916             8,609,890           8,750,143             8,783,715
8,250,019             8,612,982           8,751,420             8,784,847
8,254,673             8,616,048           8,751,446             8,785,117
8,255,505             8,631,529           8,751,627             8,785,162
8,272,961             8,632,304           8,751,645             8,785,517
8,292,815             8,635,681           8,751,837             8,785,676
8,293,717             8,641,452           8,755,494             8,786,699
8,295,985             8,655,444           8,756,562             8,787,466
8,303,416             8,663,532           8,756,913             8,787,622
8,312,798             8,663,537           8,757,156             8,789,388
8,313,023             8,664,562           8,757,577             8,791,239
8,323,951             8,664,742           8,759,099             8,791,640
8,326,096             8,665,630           8,759,462             8,791,788
8,328,559             8,665,640           8,759,661             8,791,933
8,328,644             8,667,215           8,760,446             8,791,960
8,329,849             8,667,960           8,760,623             8,791,970
8,330,492             8,668,847           8,760,932             8,792,507
8,332,190             8,669,009           8,761,485             8,792,826
8,345,702             8,669,159           8,761,521             8,794,123
8,345,801             8,669,173           8,761,615             8,794,865
8,348,767             8,669,645           8,761,829             8,795,168
8,352,025             8,670,272           8,761,925             8,795,473
8,353,757             8,670,275           8,762,497             8,795,927
8,354,437             8,671,242           8,762,665             8,796,068
8,357,529             8,673,313           8,762,890             8,797,500
8,359,182             8,673,512           8,762,959             8,797,557
8,360,873             8,673,780           8,763,001             8,797,662
8,362,278             8,673,787           8,763,307             8,798,032
8,372,814             8,674,333           8,763,589             8,798,437
8,372,955             8,678,352           8,764,774             8,798,931
8,374,111             8,678,940           8,765,153             8,798,948
8,376,994             8,685,568           8,765,611             8,800,807
8,381,042             8,685,669           8,765,776             8,801,004
 November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE 1408 OG 272 

8,382,787             8,686,891           8,766,689             8,803,214
8,385,573             8,687,973           8,767,467             8,803,229
8,386,853             8,688,290           8,767,472             8,803,439
8,387,306             8,689,103           8,767,476             8,803,840
8,387,442             8,690,683           8,767,483             8,804,399
8,387,878             8,691,799           8,767,487             8,804,411
8,389,013             8,691,889           8,767,527             8,804,451
8,391,256             8,691,966           8,767,871             8,805,276
8,393,183             8,692,212           8,768,512             8,805,345
8,393,415             8,694,285           8,768,664             8,805,387
8,395,629             8,695,043           8,768,676             8,805,435
8,396,368             8,696,711           8,768,900             8,805,462
8,399,012             8,697,468           8,769,167             8,805,517
8,400,292             8,699,375           8,769,459             8,805,828
8,401,681             8,700,296           8,769,877             8,806,087
8,403,939             8,701,773           8,770,350             8,806,163
8,404,637             8,702,129           8,770,645             8,806,226
8,407,190             8,704,405           8,770,770             8,806,429
8,411,585             8,704,954           8,771,670             8,807,145
8,419,820             8,707,416           8,771,691             8,808,317
8,420,315             8,709,386           8,772,000             8,808,986
8,422,456             8,710,110           8,772,244             8,809,560
8,424,499             8,715,081           8,772,372             8,809,624
8,426,595             8,717,649           8,772,516             8,810,033
8,431,394             8,717,887           8,772,753             8,810,204
8,433,391             8,717,931           8,773,666             8,811,322
8,435,564             8,717,947           8,774,678             8,811,766
8,437,113             8,718,089           8,774,682             8,812,116
8,437,470             8,718,619           8,775,089             8,813,870
8,438,018             8,719,045           8,775,133             8,816,085
8,440,628             8,719,394           8,775,151             8,817,094
8,443,315             8,719,985           8,775,235             8,828,060
8,444,491             8,722,055           8,775,494             D. 689,462
8,450,306             8,724,124           8,775,546             D. 696,618
8,450,328             8,724,658           8,775,953             D. 702,058
8,453,079             8,725,372           8,776,573             D. 703,330
8,460,364             8,725,414           8,776,887             D. 703,638
8,468,083             8,726,069           8,777,754             D. 705,138
8,471,378             8,727,175           8,778,230
8,471,700             8,728,188           8,778,248
Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print This Notice 1408 OG 273 

Summary of Final Decisions Issued by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board

SUMMARY OF FINAL DECISIONS ISSUED BY THE TRADEMARK TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
October 20, 2014 –October 24, 2014
 

Date Issued Type of Case(1) Proceeding or Appn. Number Party or Parties TTAB Panel (2) Issue(s) TTAB Decision Opposer’s or Petitioner’s mark and goods or services Applicant’s or Respondent’s mark and goods or services Mark and goods or services cited by Examining Attorney Issued as Precedent of TTAB
10-21 OPP 91204412 Anthropologie, Inc. and Urban Outfitters Wholesale, Inc.
v.
Happy Green Company LLC
Quinn*
Bucher
Masiello
2(d) Opposition Sustained ANTHROPOLOGIE [handbags, all-purpose carrying bags, tote bags, travelling bags, shoulder bags, clutch purses, all-purpose athletic bags, back-packs, wallets, coin purses] [women’s clothing, namely, tops, blouses, shirts, sweaters, blazers, jackets, vests, skirts, jeans, shorts, dresses, suits, coats, sleepwear, socks, hosiery, swim-wear, tights, hats and shoes][retail department store services]
ANTHRO [customer affinity program services]
ANTHO (and design) [bath salts; bath soaps in liquid, solid or gel form; cleaning and washing preparations; cosmetics and make-up; deodorants and antiperspirants; fragrance sachets; hair care preparations; nail care preparations; natural essential oils; non-medicated skin care preparations, namely, creams, lotions, butters, toners, cleansers, peels, body and foot scrubs, serums, bath and body oils, moisturizers, powders, masks and clays, lip balms and glosses; perfumes, aftershaves and colognes; room fragrances; shaving preparations]   No
10-22 EX 85558774 Mannatech, Incorporated Quinn
Kuhlke*
Adlin
2(d) Refusal Affirmed   NUTRIVERUS [dietary and nutritional supplements] NUVERUS (and design) [liquid nutritional supplement; nutritional supplements; vitamin and mineral supplements] No
10-22 EX 85769474 Tezio LLC Taylor
Ritchie*
Shaw
2(d) Refusal Affirmed   LOLA [plastic containers for organizing and storing cosmetics] CHARLIE AND LOLA (and design) [containers for household and kitchen use] No
10-22 EX 85887875 Citizens Disability, LLC Seeherman
Zervas*
Greenbaum
2(d) Refusal Reversed   CITIZENS DISABILITY HELPLINE ("DISABILITY HELPLINE" disclaimed) [counseling and assisting others in obtaining medical or disability related benefits, namely, Social Security Disability and Supplemental
Security Income benefits] [representing others in obtaining medical or disability related benefits, namely Social Security Disability and Supplemental Security Income benefits]
DISABILITY HELPLINE ("HELPLINE" disclaimed) [advertising services; attorney
referrals, namely, forwarding inquiries by potential clients to social security
lawyers and advocates]
No
10-22 EX 85807923 Evolved Ingenuity, LLC Quinn
Wellington
Adlin*
2(d) Refusal Affirmed   RECON [hunting blinds and tree stands] RECON [crossbows] No
10-22 EX 85699903 Flatiron Partners, LLC Kuhlke
Mermelstein
Masiello*
2(d) Refusal Affirmed   FLATIRON PARTNERS ("PARTNERS" disclaimed) [managing hedge fund portfolios directed to high wealth, sophisticated individual investors and to sophisticated non-hedge fund corporate entities] FLATIRON CAPITAL ("CAPITAL" disclaimed) [financing and loan services] No
10-22 CANC
(SJ)
92057150 DLR Licensing, LLC
v.
Carnival Corporation
Seeherman
Wolfson
Masiello [Opinion "By the Board" (Goodman)]
abandonment; fraud; non-use;
18 (restriction to avoid likelihood of confusion)
Petition to Cancel Dismissed as to Class 43 on grounds of abandonment, fraud, and non-use;
Petition to Cancel Dismissed as to indicated services in Class 41 on abandonment grounds [entertainment services, namely, casino services, organizing and conducting stage shows, night-club shows, dances and parties; provision of play facilities for children; night clubs; recreational services in the nature of pools; miniature golf courses; entertainment in the nature of a waterslide; entertainment in the nature of broadcasting or live presentation of motion picture films] (partial summary judgment granted)
FUN FOR ALL… ALL IN FUN application for [restaurant and bar services] FUN FOR ALL. ALL FOR FUN. [entertainment services, namely, casino services, organizing and conducting stage shows, night-club shows, contests, dances and parties; provision of play facilities for children; night clubs; recreational services in the nature of pools; miniature golf courses; entertainment in the nature of a waterslide; entertainment in the nature of broadcasting or live presentation of motion picture films; satellite television programs and satellite radio programs featuring comedy, drama, variety, sports and fashion; entertainment in the nature of simulcast presentation of live parties, sporting contests,
interactive video games, deck board games, musical concerts,
theatrical and variety shows and performances; entertainment,
namely, a continuing variety, comedy, sports, musical concert
shows broadcast over television, satellite, audio, and video
media; (Class 41)] [various hotel, bar, restaurant and catering services (Class 43)]
  No

(1) EX=Ex Parte Appeal; OPP=Opposition; CANC=Cancellation; CU=Concurrent Use; (SJ)=Summary Judgment; (MD)=Motion to Dismiss; (R)=Request for Reconsideration; (REM)=Decision on Remand (2) *=Opinion Writer; (D)=Dissenting Panel Member
 



Top of Notices Top of Notices November 25, 2014 US PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE Print Appendix 1408 OG 

Mailing and Hand Carry Addresses for Mail to the United States Patent and Trademark Office
                     MAILING AND HAND CARRY ADDRESSES FOR
             MAIL TO THE UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

              MAIL TO BE DIRECTED TO THE COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS

   For most correspondence (e.g., new patent applications) no mail stop
is required because the processing of the correspondence is routine.
If NO mail stop is included on the list below, no mail stop is required
for the correspondence. See the listing under "Mail to be Directed to the
Director of the Patent And Trademark Office" for additional mail stops
for patent-related correspondence. Only the specified type of document
should be placed in an envelope addressed to one of these special mail
stops. If any documents other than the specified type identified for each
special mail stop are addressed to that mail stop, they will be
significantly delayed in reaching the appropriate area for which they are
intended. The mail stop should generally appear as the first line in
the address.

   Most correspondence may be submitted electronically. See the USPTO's
Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web) internet page
http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/index.jsp for additional
information.

   Please address mail to be delivered by the United States Postal Service
(USPS) as follows:

        Mail Stop _____
        Commissioner for Patents
        P.O. Box 1450
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

   If no Mail Stop is indicated below, the line beginning Mail Stop should
be omitted from the address.

   NEW: Effective September 16, 2012, the Mail Stop description for Mail
Stop Ex Parte Reexam is being revised and a new Mail Stop for supplemental
examination requests is being added as Mail Stop Supplemental Examination.

   Except correspondence for Maintenance Fee payments, Deposit Account
Replenishments (see 37 CFR 1.25(c)(4)), and Licensing and Review (see 37 CFR
5.1(c) and 5.2(c)), please address patent-related correspondence to be
delivered by other delivery services (Federal Express (Fed Ex), UPS, DHL,
Laser, Action, Purolator, etc.) as follows:

        United States Patent and Trademark Office
        Customer Service Window, Mail Stop _____
        Randolph Building
        401 Dulany Street
        Alexandria, VA 22314


Mail Stop
Designations            Explanation

Mail Stop 12            Contributions to the Examiner Education Program.

Mail Stop 313(c)        Petitions under 37 CFR 1.313(c) to withdraw a
                        patent application from issue after payment of
                        the issue fee and any papers associated with the
                        petition, including papers necessary for a
                        continuing application or a request for
                        continued examination (RCE).

Mail Stop AF            Amendments and other responses after final
                        rejection (e.g., a notice of appeal (and any
                        request for pre-appeal brief conference)),
                        other than an appeal brief.

Mail Stop Amendment     Information disclosure statements, drawings, and
                        replies to Office actions in patent applications
                        with or without an amendment to the application or
                        a terminal disclaimer. (Use Mail Stop AF for
                        replies after final rejection.)

Mail Stop Appeal        For appeal briefs or other briefs under
 Brief-Patents          part 41 of title 37 of the Code of Federal
                        Regulations (e.g., former 37 CFR 1.192).

Mail Stop               Public comments regarding patent-related
 Comments-Patent        regulations and procedures.


Mail Stop Conversion    Requests under 37 CFR 1.53(c)(2) to convert a
                        nonprovisional application to a provisional
                        application and requests under 37 CFR 1.53(c)(3)
                        to convert a provisional application to a
                        nonprovisional application.

Mail Stop EBC           Mail for the Electronic Business Center including:
                        Certificate Action Forms, Request for Customer
                        Number, and Requests for Customer Number Data
                        Change (USPTO Forms PTO-2042, PTO/SB/124A and 125A,
                        respectively) and Customer Number Upload
                        Spreadsheets and Cover Letters.

Mail Stop Expedited     Only to be used for the initial filing of
 Design                 design applications accompanied by a
                        request for expedited examination under
                        37 CFR 1.155.

Mail Stop Express       Requests for abandonment of a patent
 Abandonment            application pursuant to 37 CFR 1.138,
                        including any petitions under 37 CFR
                        1.138(c) to expressly abandon an
                        application to avoid publication of the
                        application.

Mail Stop               Applications under 35 U.S.C. 156 for patent term
 Hatch-Waxman PTE       extension based on regulatory review of a product
                        subject to pre-market review by a regulating
                        agency. This mail stop is also to be used for
                        additional correspondence regarding the
                        application for patent term extension under
                        35 U.S.C. 156. It is preferred that such initial
                        requests be hand-carried to:

                        Office of Patent Legal Administration
                        Room MDW 7D55
                        600 Dulany Street (Madison Building)
                        Alexandria, VA 22314

Mail Stop ILS           Correspondence relating to international patent
                        classification, exchanges and standards.

Mail Stop Issue Fee     All communications following the receipt of a
                        PTOL-85, "Notice of Allowance and Fee(s)
                        Due," and prior to the issuance of a patent
                        should be addressed to Mail Stop Issue Fee,
                        unless advised to the contrary.

                        Assignments are the exception. Assignments
                        (with cover sheets) should be faxed to
                        571-273-0140, electronically submitted
                        (http://epas.uspto.gov), or submitted in a
                        separate envelope and sent to Mail Stop
                        Assignment Recordation Services,
                        Director - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
                        as shown below.

Mail Stop L&R           All documents pertaining to applications subject
                        to secrecy order pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 181, or
                        national-security classified and required to be
                        processed accordingly. Such papers, petitions for
                        foreign filing license pursuant to 37 CFR 5.12(b)
                        for which expedited handling is requested, and
                        petitions for retroactive license under 37 CFR
                        5.25 may also be hand carried to Licensing and
                        Review:

                        Technology Center 3600, Office of the Director
                        Room 4B41
                        501 Dulany Street (Knox Building)
                        Alexandria, VA 22314

Mail Stop Missing       Requests for a corrected filing receipt and
 Parts                  replies to OPAP notices such as the Notice
                        of Omitted Items, Notice to File Corrected
                        Application Papers, Notice of Incomplete
                        Application, Notice to Comply with Nucleotide
                        Sequence Requirements, and Notice to File Missing
                        Parts of Application, and associated papers and
                        fees.

Mail Stop MPEP          Submissions concerning the Manual of Patent
                        Examining Procedure.

Mail Stop Patent Ext.   Applications for patent term extension or
                        adjustment under 35 U.S.C. 154 and any
                        communications relating thereto. This mail stop
                        is limited to petitions for patent term extension
                        under 35 U.S.C. 154 for applications filed
                        between June 8, 1995 and May 29, 2000, and patent
                        term adjustment (PTA) under 35 U.S.C. 154 for
                        applications filed on or after May 29, 2000.
                        For applications for patent term extension under
                        35 U.S.C. 156, use Mail Stop Hatch-Waxman PTE.
                        For applications for patent term extension or
                        adjustment under 35 U.S.C. 154 that are mailed
                        together with the payment of the issue fee, use
                        Mail Stop Issue Fee.

Mail Stop Patent        Submission of comments regarding search templates.
 Search Template
 Comments

Mail Stop PCT           Mail related to international applications filed
                        under the Patent Cooperation Treaty in the
                        international phase and in the national phase
                        under 35 U.S.C. 371 prior to mailing of a
                        Notification of Acceptance of Application Under
                        35 U.S.C. 371 and 37 CFR 1.495 (Form
                        PCT/DO/EO/903).

Mail Stop Petition      Petitions to be decided by the Office of Petitions,
                        including petitions to revive and petitions to
                        accept late payment of issue fees or maintenance
                        fees.

Mail Stop PGPUB         Correspondence regarding publication of patent
                        applications not otherwise provided, including:
                        requests for early publication made after filing,
                        rescission of a non-publication request, corrected
                        patent application publication, and refund of
                        publication fee.

Mail Stop Post          In patented files: requests for changes of
 Issue                  correspondence address, powers of attorney,
                        revocations of powers of attorney, withdrawal as
                        attorney or agent and submissions under 37
                        CFR 1.501. Designation of, or changes to, a fee
                        address should be addressed to Mail Stop M
                        Correspondence. Requests for Certificate of
                        Correction need no special mail stop, but
                        should be mailed to the attention of Certificate
                        of Correction Branch.

Mail Stop RCE           Requests for continued examination under
                        37 CFR 1.114.

Mail Stop               Correspondence pertaining to the reconstruction
 Reconstruction         of lost patent files.

Mail Stop Ex Parte      Original requests for Ex Parte Reexamination
 Reexam                 and all subsequent correspondence other
                        than correspondence to the Office of the Solicitor
                        (see 37 CFR 1.1(a)(3) and 1.302(c)). Effective
                        September 16, 2012, this mail stop is also to be
                        used for any papers to be filed in an ex parte
                        reexamination proceeding ordered as a result of
                        a supplemental examination proceeding.

Mail Stop Inter         Original requests for Inter Partes Reexamination
 Partes Reexam          and all subsequent correspondence other than
                        correspondence to the Office of the Solicitor
                        (see 37 CFR 1.1(a)(3) and 1.302(c)).

Mail Stop Reissue       All new and continuing reissue application filings.

Mail Stop Sequence      Submission of the computer readable form (CRF) for
                        applications with sequence listings, when the CRF
                        is not being filed with the patent application.

Mail Stop Supplemental  (Effective September 16, 2012). Requests for
 Examination            Supplemental Examination, including original
                        request papers and any other correspondence, other
                        than correspondence to the Office of the
                        Solicitor (see 37 CFR Secs. 1.1(a)(3) AND 1.302(c)).
                        This mail stop is limited to original request papers
                        and any other papers that are to be filed in a
                        supplemental examination proceeding. For any papers
                        to be filed in an ex parte reexamination proceeding
                        ordered as a result of a supplemental examination
                        proceeding, use "Mail Stop Ex Parte Reexam".

Information for addressing patent-related correspondence may also be found
on the USPTO's web site at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/mail.jsp.


            MAIL TO BE DIRECTED TO THE COMMISSIONER FOR TRADEMARKS

   Please address trademark-related correspondence to be delivered by the
United States Postal Service (USPS), except documents sent to the Assignment
Services Division for recordation, requests for copies of trademark
documents, and documents directed to the Madrid Processing Unit, as follows:

        Commissioner for Trademarks
        P.O. Box 1451
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1451

   Mail to be delivered by the USPS to the Office's Madrid Processing Unit,
must be mailed to:

        Madrid Processing Unit
        600 Dulany Street
        MDE-7B87
        Alexandria, VA 22314-5796

   Mail to be delivered by the USPS to the Office's Deputy Commissioner for
Trademark Policy regarding Letters of Protest must be mailed to:

        Letter of Protest
        ATTN: Deputy Commissioner for Trademark Policy
        600 Dulany Street
        Alexandria, VA 22314-5796

   Mail to be delivered by the USPS to the Director regarding the Fastener
Quality Act (FQA) must be mailed to:

        Director, USPTO
        ATTN: FQA
        600 Dulany Street, MDE-10A71
        Alexandria, VA 22314-5793

   Mail to be delivered by the USPS to the Commissioner regarding the
recordal of a Native American Tribal Insignia (NATI) must be mailed to:

        Native American Tribal Insignia
        ATTN: Commissioner for Trademarks
        600 Dulany Street
        MDE-10A71
        Alexandria, VA 22314-5793

Do NOT send any of the following via USPS certified mail or with a
"signature required" option: submissions to the Madrid Processing Unit,
Letters of Protest, applications for recordal of insignia under the
Fastener Quality Act, notifications of Native American Tribal Insignia.

   Trademark-related mail to be delivered by hand or other private courier
or delivery service (e.g., UPS, Federal Express) to the Trademark Operation,
the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, or the Office's Madrid Processing Unit,
must be delivered to:

        Trademark Assistance Center
        Madison East, Concourse Level Room C 55
        600 Dulany Street
        Alexandria, VA 22314

Information for addressing trademark-related correspondence may also be found
on the USPTO's web site at http://www.uspto.gov/trademarks/mail.jsp.


           MAIL TO BE DIRECTED TO THE DIRECTOR OF THE UNITED STATES
                          PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

   Please address correspondence to be directed to a mail stop identified
below to be delivered by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as follows
(unless otherwise instructed):

        Mail Stop _____
        Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
        P.O. Box 1450
        Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

Mail Stop
Designations            Explanation

Mail Stop 3             Mail for the Office of Personnel from NFC.

Mail Stop 6             Mail for the Office of Procurement.

Mail Stop 8             All papers for the Office of the Solicitor except
                        communications relating to pending litigation and
                        disciplinary proceedings; papers relating to pending
                        litigation in court cases shall be mailed only to
                        Office of the Solicitor, P.O. Box 15667, Arlington,
                        VA 22215 and papers related to pending disciplinary
                        proceedings before the Administrative Law Judge or
                        the Director shall be mailed only to the Office of
                        the Solicitor, P.O. Box 16116, Arlington, VA 22215.

Mail Stop 11            Mail for the Electronic Ordering Service (EOS).

Mail Stop 13            Mail for the Employee and Labor Relations Division.

Mail Stop 16            Mail related to refund requests, other than
                        requests for refund of a patent application
                        publication fee. Such requests should be directed
                        to Mail Stop PGPub.

Mail Stop 17            Invoices directed to the Office of Finance.

Mail Stop 24            Mail for the Inventor's Assistance Program,
                        including complaints about Invention Promoters.

Mail Stop 171           Vacancy Announcement Applications.

Mail Stop Assignment    All assignment documents, security interests,
 Recordation Services   and other documents to be recorded in the
                        Assignment records. Note that documents with
                        cover sheets that are faxed to 571-273-0140 or
                        submitted electronically (http://epas.uspto.gov)
                        are processed much more quickly than those
                        submitted by mail.

Mail Stop Document      All requests for certified or uncertified
 Services               copies of patent or trademark documents.

Mail Stop EEO           Mail for the Office of Civil Rights.

Mail Stop External      Mail for the Office of External Affairs.
 Affairs

Mail Stop Interference  Communications relating to interferences and
                        applications and patents involved in interference.

Mail Stop M             Mail to designate or change a fee
 Correspondence         address, or other correspondence related to
                        maintenance fees, except payments of
                        maintenance fees in patents. See below for
                        the address for maintenance fee payments.

Mail Stop OED           Mail for the Office of Enrollment and Discipline.


                           Maintenance Fee Payments

   Unless submitted electronically over the Internet at www.uspto.gov,
payments of maintenance fees in patents should be mailed through the
United States Postal Service to:

        United States Patent and Trademark Office
        P.O. Box 979070
        St. Louis, MO 63197-9000

   Alternatively, payment of maintenance fees in patents (Attn: Maintenance
Fee) using hand-delivery and delivery by private courier may be made to:

        Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
        Attn: Maintenance Fee
        2051 Jamieson Avenue, Suite 300
        Alexandria, Virginia 22314


                        Deposit Account Replenishments

   To send payment to replenish deposit accounts, send the payments through
the United States Postal Service to:

        United States Patent and Trademark Office
        P.O. Box 979065
        St. Louis, MO 63197-9000

   Alternatively, deposit account replenishments (Attn: Deposit Accounts)
using hand-delivery and delivery by private courier (e.g., FedEx, UPS, etc.)
may be delivered to:

        Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
        Attn: Deposit Accounts
        2051 Jamieson Avenue, Suite 300
        Alexandria, VA 22314

   Information abount deposit account replenishments may also be found on
the USPTO's web site at
http://www.uspto.gov/about/offices/cfo/finance/Deposit_Account_
Replenishments.jsp
Top of Notices Top of Notices
Reference Collections of U.S. Patents Available for Public Use in Patent and Trademark Resource Centers
             Reference Collections of U.S. Patents Available for
             Public Use in Patent and Trademark Resource Centers

The following libraries, designated as Patent and Trademark Resource Centers
(PTRCs), provide public access to patent and trademark information received
from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This
information includes all issued patents, all registered trademarks, the
Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, search tools such
as the Cassis CD-ROM suite of products and supplemental information in a
variety of formats including online, optical disc, microfilm and paper.
Each PTRC also offers access to USPTO resources on the Internet and to
PubWEST (Web based examiner search tool), a system used by patent examiners
that is not available on the Internet.

Staff assistance and training is provided in the use of this information.
All information is available free of charge. However, there may be charges
associated with the use of photocopying and related services. Hours of
service to the public vary, and anyone contemplating use of these
collections at a particular library is urged to contact that library in
advance about its services and hours to avoid inconvenience.

State                   Name of Library                  Telephone Contact

Alabama                 Auburn University Libraries         (334) 844-1737
                        Birmingham Public Library           (205) 226-3620
Alaska                  Fairbanks: Keith B. Mather Library,
                        Geophysical Institute,
                        University of Alaska, Fairbanks     (907) 474-2636
Arizona                 Phoenix, Arizona
                        State Library of Arizona
                        Arizona State Library Archives
                        and Public Records                  (602) 926-3870
Arkansas                Little Rock: Arkansas State
                        Library                             (501) 682-2053
California              Los Angeles Public Library          (213) 228-7220
                        Riverside: University of
                        California, Riverside, Orbach
                        Science Library                     (951) 827-3316
                        Sacramento: California State
                        Library                             (916) 654-0261
                        San Diego Public Library            (619) 236-5800
                        San Francisco Public Library        (415) 557-4400
                        Sunnyvale Public Library            (408) 730-7300
Colorado                Denver Public Library               (720) 865-1711
Connecticut             Fairfield: Ryan-Matura Library
                        Sacred Heart University             (203) 371-7726
Delaware                Newark: University of Delaware
                        Library                             (302) 831-2965
Dist. of Columbia       Washington: Howard University
                        Libraries                           (202) 806-7252
Florida                 Fort Lauderdale: Broward County
                        Main Library                        (954) 357-7444
                        Miami-Dade Public Library           (305) 375-2665
                        Orlando: University of Central
                        Florida Libraries                   (407) 823-2562
Georgia                 Atlanta: Library and Information
                        Center, Georgia Institute of
                        Technology                          (404) 385-7185
Hawaii                  Honolulu: Hawaii State Library      (808) 586-3477
Illinois                Chicago Public Library              (312) 747-4450
                        Macomb:  Western Illinois
                        University Libraries                (309) 298-2722
Indiana                 Indianapolis-Marion County Public
                        Library                             (317) 269-1741
                        West Lafayette Siegesmund
                        Engineering Library,
                        Purdue University                   (765) 494-2872
Iowa                    Davenport: Davenport Public Library (563) 326-7832
Kansas                  Wichita: Ablah Library, Wichita
                        State University                  1 (800) 572-8368
Kentucky                Louisville Free Public Library      (502) 574-1611
                        W. Frank Steely Library
                        Northern Kentucky University
                        Highland Heights, Kentucky          (859) 572-5457
Louisiana               Baton Rouge: Troy H. Middleton
                        Library, Louisiana State University (225) 388-8875
Maine                   Orono: Raymond H. Fogler Library,
                        University of Maine                 (207) 581-1678
Maryland                Baltimore: University of Baltimore
                        Law Library                         (410) 837-4554
                        College Park: Engineering and
                        Physical Sciences Library,
                        University of Maryland              (301) 405-9157
Massachusetts           Amherst: Physical Sciences Library,
                        University of Massachusetts         (413) 545-2765
                        Boston Public Library               (617) 536-5400
                                                                 Ext. 4256
Michigan                Ann Arbor: Art, Architecture &
                        Engineering Library,
                        University of Michigan              (734) 647-5735
                        Big Rapids: Ferris Library for
                        Information, Technology &
                        Education, Ferris State
                        University                          (231) 592-3602
                        Detroit: Public Library             (313) 481-1391
                        Michigan Technological
                        University, Van Pelt and
                        Opie Library, Houghton              (906) 487-2500
Minnesota               Hennepin County Library
                        Minneapolis Central Library         (612) 543-8000
Mississippi             Jackson: Mississippi Library
                        Commission                          (601) 961-4111
Missouri                Kansas City: Linda Hall Library     (816) 363-4600
                                                                  Ext. 724
                        St. Louis Public Library            (314) 352-2900
Montana                 Butte: Montana Tech Library of
                        the University of Montana           (406) 496-4281
Nebraska                Lincoln: Engineering Library,
                        University of Nebraska-Lincoln      (402) 472-3411
New Hampshire           Concord: University of New
                        Hampshire School of Law             (603) 513-5130
Nevada                  Reno: University of Nevada, Reno,
                        Mathewson-IGT Knowledge Center      (775) 784-6500
                                                                  Ext. 257
New Jersey              Newark Public Library               (973) 733-7779
                        Piscataway: Library of Science and
                        Medicine, Rutgers University        (732) 445-2895
New York                Albany: New York State Library      (518) 474-5355
                        Buffalo and Erie County Public
                        Library                             (716) 858-7101
                        Rochester Public Library            (716) 428-8110
                        New York: New York Public Library,
                        Science Industry & Business Library (212) 592-7000
North Carolina          J. Murrey Atkins Library, University
                        of North Carolina at Charlotte      (704) 687-0494
North Dakota            Grand Forks: Chester Fritz Library,
                        University of North Dakota          (701) 777-4888
Ohio                    Akron - Summit County Public        (330) 643-9075
                        Library
                        Cincinnati and Hamilton County,
                        Public Library of                   (513) 369-6932
                        Cleveland Public Library            (216) 623-2870
                        Dayton: Paul Laurence Dunbar
                        Library, Wright State University    (937) 775-3521
                        Toledo/Lucas County Public Library  (419) 259-5209
Oklahoma                Stillwater: Oklahoma State
                        University Edmon Low Library        (405) 744-6546
Pennsylvania            Philadelphia, The Free Library of   (215) 686-5394
                        Pittsburgh, Carnegie Library of     (412) 622-3138
                        University Park: PAMS Library,
                        Pennsylvania State University       (814) 865-7617
Puerto Rico             Bayamon: Learning Resources Center,
                        University of Puerto Rico           (787) 993-0000
                                                                 Ext. 3222
                        Mayaquez General Library,
                        University of Puerto Rico           (787) 832-4040
                                                                 Ext. 2023
                        Bayamon, Learning Resources Center,
                        University of Puerto Rico           (787) 786-5225
Rhode Island            Providence Public Library           (401) 455-8027
South Carolina          Clemson University Libraries        (864) 656-3024
South Dakota            Rapid City: Devereaux Library,
                        South Dakota School of Mines and
                        Technology                          (605) 394-1275
Tennessee               Nashville: Stevenson Science and
                        Engineering Library, Vanderbilt
                        University                          (615) 322-2717
Texas                   Austin: McKinney Engineering
                        Library, University of Texas at
                        Austin                              (512) 495-4511
                        College Station: West Campus
                        Library, Texas A & M University     (979) 845-2111
                        Dallas Public Library               (214) 670-1468
                        Houston: The Fondren Library, Rice
                        University                          (713) 348-5483
                        Lubbock: Texas Tech University      (806) 742-2282
                        San Antonio Public Library          (210) 207-2500
Utah                    Salt Lake City: Marriott Library,
                        University of Utah                  (801) 581-8394
Vermont                 Burlington: Bailey/Howe Library,
                        University of Vermont               (802) 656-2542
Washington              Seattle: Engineering Library,
                        University of Washington            (206) 543-0740
West Virginia           Morgantown: Evansdale Library,
                        West Virginia University            (304) 293-4695
Wisconsin               Wendt Commons Library,
                        University of Wisconsin-Madison     (608) 262-0696
                        Milwaukee Public Library            (414) 286-3051
Wyoming                 Cheyenne: Wyoming State Library     (307) 777-7281
Top of Notices Top of Notices
Patent Technology Centers
PATENT TECHNOLOGY CENTERS
AVERAGE FILING DATE OF APPLICATIONS RECEIVING A FIRST OFFICE ACTION IN THE LAST 3 MONTHS1
Technology
Center
GAU Avg Filing Date
1600 BIOTECHNOLOGY, AND ORGANIC CHEMISTRY
  1610 08/19/2013
  1620 11/12/2013
  1630 04/19/2013
  1640 06/22/2013
  1650 07/13/2013
  1660 03/13/2013
  1670 08/12/2013
  TOTAL 07/31/2013
     
1700 CHEMICAL AND MATERIALS ENGINEERING AND DESIGNS
  1710 02/11/2013
  1720 03/16/2013
  1730 04/22/2013
  1740 04/25/2013
  1750 02/02/2013
  1760 05/10/2013
  1770 02/14/2013
  1780 02/23/2013
  1790 05/13/2013
  TOTAL 03/22/2013
     
2100 COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE AND SOFTWARE
  2110 02/23/2013
  2120 11/09/2012
  2130 02/20/2013
  2140 11/18/2012
  2150 05/13/2013
  2160 04/28/2013
  2170 11/03/2012
  2180 06/28/2013
  2190 03/19/2013
  TOTAL 02/17/2013
     
2400 NETWORKING, MULTIPLEXING, CABLE AND SECURITY
  2410 04/22/2013
  2420 10/15/2013
  2430 07/01/2013
  2440 02/23/2013
  2450 02/02/2013
  2460 04/19/2013
  2470 05/07/2013
  2480 09/30/2012
  2490 05/31/2013
  TOTAL 04/07/2013
     
2600 COMMUNICATIONS
  2610 01/05/2013
  2620 03/13/2013
  2630 08/25/2013
  2640 04/22/2013
  2650 03/22/2013
  2660 05/04/2013
  2670 12/09/2013
  2680 06/16/2013
  2690 03/19/2013
  TOTAL 05/16/2013
     
2800   SEMICONDUCTORS/MEMORY, CIRCUITS/MEASURING AND TESTING, OPTICS/PHOTOCOPYING
  2810 08/31/2013
  2820 08/12/2013
  2830 03/04/2013
  2840 06/28/2013
  2850 05/28/2013
  2860 09/15/2012
  2870 04/13/2013
  2880 05/04/2013
  2890 09/21/2013
  TOTAL 05/22/2013
     
2900    
  2910 10/09/2013
  2920 08/28/2013
  TOTAL 10/09/2013
     
3600     TRANSPORTATION, CONSTRUCTION, ELECTRONIC COMMERCE, AGRICULTURE, NATIONAL SECURITY AND LICENSE AND REVIEW
  3610 10/03/2013
  3620 03/16/2013
  3630 09/30/2013
  3640 02/26/2013
  3650 06/13/2013
  3660 06/22/2013
  3670 05/01/2013
  3680 03/07/2013
  3690 09/15/2013
  TOTAL 06/10/2013
     
3700   MECHANICAL ENGINEERING, MANUFACTURING AND PRODUCTS
  3710 07/07/2013
  3720 12/09/2012
  3730 03/04/2013
  3740 09/30/2012
  3750 01/08/2013
  3760 03/22/2013
  3770 03/04/2013
  3780 08/15/2013
  TOTAL 01/30/2013
     
  1 Report last updated on 10-31-2014.
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