Training and Implementation Guide for the Final Rule entitled "Changes to Patent Practice and Procedure" The U. S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), announces the availability of the Training and Implementation Guide for the Final Rule entitled "Changes to Patent Practice and Procedure." The Training and Implementation Guide will be offered for sale in paper for $40 per copy or on CD-ROM for $50 per copy. Information contained in the Training and Implementation Guide is also available at no cost on the PTO's Web site at www.uspto.gov. A Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled "1996 Changes to Patent Practice and Procedure" was published in the Federal Register at 61 Fed. Reg. 49819 (September 23, 1996), and in the Official Gazette at 1191 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 105 (October 22, 1996). A Final Rule (entitled "Changes to Patent Practice and Procedure") adopting a number of changes proposed in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking has been published in the Federal Register and the Official Gazette. The changes made by the Final Rule became effective on December 1, 1997. Among the changes to the rules of practice included in the Final Rule are: 1) New procedures for filing continuation and divisional applications, including a new streamlined filing procedure (continued prosecution application or CPA); 2) Simplified requirements for oaths or declarations in reissue applications; 3) Simplified requirements for establishing lack of deceptive intent in petition practice, and in the filing of papers correcting improperly asserted small entity status; 4) Elimination of unnecessary requirements, such as certain types of petitions to correct inventorship under 37 C.F.R. 1.48(a); 5) Changes in appeal practice, such as limitations on new grounds of rejection and increased admissibility of reply briefs; 6) New time frames for replies to Office actions, and for the revival of abandoned applications, and simplification of petitions for an extension of time; 7) Changes in the manner of naming inventors, for correction of inventorship errors, and for establishing small entity status in continuing and reissue applications; and 8) Provisions for multiple prior art protests by a single party. The Training and Implementation Guide will contain: 1) The text of the entire Final Rule as published in the Federal Register, which includes the revised rule language, the preamble portion explaining the revisions, and an Index to the Final Rule; 2) A rule-by-rule summary and three by-topic summaries (four summaries in total), the three by-topic summaries including a two-page highlights of the significant revisions, a condensed summary of the significant revisions, and a detailed summary of the revisions; 3) Selected revised forms for filing applications; 4) An extensive set of Questions and Answers; 5) Copies of presentation slides developed for examiner training sessions, including slides comparing the old and new requirements for filing applications; and 6) A section on amendments in reissues and reexaminations. Order forms are available at the Reception Desk, Patent Search Room, Crystal Plaza 3, Rm. 1A01; on the PTO's Web site; and by calling the Office of Electronic Information Products (OEIP) at 703-306-2600. Those wishing to place orders should submit an order form, together with payment or payment authorization, to: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Office of Electronic Information Products Crystal Park 3 - Suite 441 Washington, D.C. 20231 Orders will also be taken by facsimile at 703-306-2737, or in person by OEIP in Crystal Park 3-Suite 411, Arlington, Va. 22202. Payments should be by check or money order payable to the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, or, with authorization, charged to a PTO deposit account, VISA , or MasterCard . Notebooks and CD-ROMs will be mailed by first-class mail to addresses in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and by airmail to all other addresses; or, at the requestor's expense, by FedEx. October 8, 1997 STEPHEN G. KUNIN Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Patent Policy and Projects