FY 2022 vILT Courses
35 U.S.C. § 103 – parts 1-3
This three-part series demonstrates how an entry level Examiner is trained to apply 35 U.S.C. § 103 when making obviousness determinations. Each part builds on the previous part(s) and combined, provide a comprehensive course.
Part 1: 35 U.S.C. § 103 – Obviousness Rejection
Experts provide an overview of the statute, cover the Graham v. John Deere obviousness inquiries, provide guidelines when making an obviousness rejection and define what is meant by a “prima facie” case.
Part 2: 35 U.S.C. § 103 – Writing Rejections
Experts review different rationales identified in the Supreme Court decision in KSR v. Teleflex and explain how to properly write a rejection under 35 U.S.C. § 103 using the Graham inquiries.
Part 3: 35 U.S.C. § 103 – Examining Evidence
Experts review case law examples from the Federal Circuit that apply the rationales from the Supreme Court decision in KSR v. Teleflex, resulting in either a conclusion of obviousness or nonobviousness. The “preponderance of the evidence” standard will be discussed, with emphasis on every case being decided on its own facts. Examples are discussed on how an Examiner shall consider evidence when presented in response to an obviousness rejection.
FY 2021 vILT Courses
Petitions Practice
An overview of the Office of Petitions (OPET) and the impact of petitions on the examination process. Attendees will learn basic information regarding OPET and the petition process, common types of petitions, recent updates to petitions practice and best practices.
After Final Practice
Review of examination practices and procedures for after final requests for reconsideration. Detailed hypothetical examples will be used to provide a refresher on best practices for an examiner’s response to arguments and claim amendments after a final rejection. Additional details about examiner implementation of the After Final Consideration Pilot 2.0 (AFCP 2.0) will also be discussed.
FY 2020 vILT Courses
Double Patenting
This course reviews the different types of double patenting rejections with AIA updates, when a restriction does or does not prohibit double patenting, the various types of arguments and evidence applicants can provide to overcome a double patenting rejection, and several detailed examples of when double patenting is proper or improper.
35 U.S.C. 103 – Obviousness rejections
Hypothetical examples will be used to provide a refresher on how to construct clear and complete 35 U.S.C. 103 obviousness rejections.
Examination of ranges
This course covers the examination of ranges and identification of prior art relating to ranges. Topics covered include how prior art should be applied to numerical ranges, anticipation and obviousness analysis as they apply to ranges, and optimization of ranges.
Unity of Invention
Advanced training on restriction practice using the unity of invention analysis for national stage applications submitted under 35 U.S.C. 371. Topics covered include determining when the unity of invention restriction analysis is to be used to formulate a restriction, a priori and a posteriori unity of invention analyses, reasonableness considerations, election of species, and rejoinder practice. Training materials related to this vILT course can be found on the Examination Guidance and Training Materials webpage.
Are there other examination practice and procedure topics you’d like to receive training in? Please complete the needs assessment survey and let us know.