The next wave of U.S. patent reform changes embodied in the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act takes effect on Sunday, September 16, 2012. The following is a list of some of the things that will be different when we come to work on Monday. Because of the different effective date provisions, some of these changes will impact granted patents and/or pending patent applications, as well as new U.S. patent applications filed on or after September 16, 2012.
Patent Prosecution Changes
The following changes apply to U.S. patent applications filed on or after September 16, 2012:
As noted above, these changes apply to any U.S. patent application “filed” on or after September 16, 2012, which includes new continuation and divisional applications filed on or after September 16, 2012. However, only U.S. national phase applications that are based on PCT applications filed on or after September 16, 2012 are subject to these changes.
These changes apply to reissue applications filed on or after September 16, 2012.
The following changes apply to U.S. patent applications that are pending on or after September 16, 2012:
The rules implementing these and other prosecution-related changes are set forth in a single rule package.
Post-Grant Changes
The following changes apply to U.S. patents that are in force on or after September 16, 2012:
The following changes apply to certain business method patents:
USPTO AIA “Help” Lines
The USPTO has announced two new AIA “help” lines that will be available starting September 17, 2012:
email: HELPAIA@uspto.gov
phone: 1 855 HELP AIA