(108)                   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, VISAĖrm, or MasterCardĖrm. 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

                                 [1204 OG 100]