Bolstering the Robustness and Reliability of Patents

USPTO Director Kathi Vidal is beginning to move forward with various initiatives that I’ll discuss in upcoming posts. Most recently though, the Office issued a Request for Comments seeking public input on mechanisms for “bolstering the robustness and reliability of patents.” Comments due January 3, 2023 via Federal eRulemaking Portal at regulations.gov (docket: PTO-P-2022-0025).  The document includes a commitment from the USPTO to increase patent examiner time, training and resources.

One question asked in the RFC is whether the USPTO should require patent applicants to link claim limitations to particular disclosures in the originally filed specification.  That linkage would facilitate examiner understanding of the invention as well as considerations such as enablement and written description.  In some cases cases, the office could automatically demand more detailed analysis — such as for genus; markush; or functional claim limitations.

Lots more in there: read it here.