- New USPTO director Andrei Iancu delivered policy speeches signaling a more pro-growth, pro-business direction for the patent office.
- The patent office issued new guidelines—based on a recent federal circuit case and reflected in the Berkheimer policy memo—that reduce arbitrary rejection of software patent claims by examiners.
- As a result, it may have become harder to invalidate software patent claims under the new guidance.
- Director Iancu pointed out that the U.S. is no longer ranked first among the world’s patent systems—it was tied for 12th—and stated this was correctable.
Good News For Patent Owners Coming Soon!
New PTO director Iancu has some important economic messages that he’s been delivering in policy speeches.
This may not sound very exciting, generally, when a bureaucrat speaks about policy, but we think that this is a sea change in the direction for the patent office and how it will positively impact the US economy.
Craige Thompson, JD, EE, PE, Patent Attorney
Craige Thompson, JD, EE, PE Patent Attorney, Author of #1 Amazon Best Seller Patent Offense
We here at TPL are big believers in promoting the micro-economies of the people in our circle of influence, starting with our clients, and including our vendors, families, and friends of Thompson Patent Law.
When you read one of Director Iancu’s speeches (reproduced here), you will probably resonate like I did with the optimistic and pro-growth, pro-business approach, which is very refreshing to hear from a Washington bureaucrat.
We applaud the arrival of director Iancu, not only because of his worth, but because of the actions that have already come out of the patent office.
For example, the patent office has very recently issued new guidelines based on a very recent federal circuit case that reduces the craziness of how examiners are rejecting software patent claims without any real rational basis. Evidence of this is in the Berkheimer policy memo.
It might have just become harder to invalidate software claims.
The noises that Director Iancu is making and the actions he seems to be taking are very positive for patent owners and for inventors and entrepreneurs and businesses who wish to obtain patent protection in a reasonable time, at a reasonable cost, and have a high quality, enforceable patent document.
I look forward to a strong era of pro-inventive patent protection favorable to inventors and perhaps even a new golden era of patents.
One thing that Director Iancu has pointed to is that the US is no longer ranked first as the number one patent system in the world. In fact, the US is tied for 12th. This is, in Iancu’s vision, unacceptable, and easily and quickly correctable.
He believes we can get back to the world class patent system that can propel innovative US businesses in the coming decades by being able to fairly protect their inventions.
