The appointment of Coke Morgan Stewart as the Acting Director of the USPTO has raised hopes among inventors and innovative companies regarding patent rights. For the first time in years, the leadership understands the significance of strong patents. Although the director has limited power over regulations, she can influence human resources and quality processes. To expedite improvements, the article suggests several immediate changes, such as discouraging excessive combinations of references in patent rejections and enhancing examiner supervision, to regain innovator trust.
When an examiner needs to combine four or more references to reject an independent claim over prior art, something stinks.
The Acting Director can discourage overaggressive rejection behavior. While not categorically contrary to law, such rejections are often implausible.
For the first time since the Andrei Iancu years, innovators feel confident that the leader of 'America's Innovation Agency' grasps the importance of strong patent rights.
There are some areas where her power is nearly plenary - human resources and internal quality processes.
Collection
[
|
...
]