Request for Comments on Discretion To Institute Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board

• Published date: 18 November 2020
• Citation: 85 FR 73437
• Record Number: 2020-25490
• Section: Proposed rules
• Court: Patent And Trademark Office

Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 223 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 223 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
                [Proposed Rules]
                [Pages 73437-73438]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2020-25490]
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                DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
                Patent and Trademark Office
                37 CFR Part 42
                [Docket No. PTO-C-2020-0055]
                Request for Comments on Discretion To Institute Trials Before the
                Patent Trial and Appeal Board
                AGENCY: Patent Trial and Appeal Board, United States Patent and
                Trademark Office, Department of Commerce.
                ACTION: Request for comments; extension of comment period.
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                SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or
                Office) published a request for comments in the Federal Register on
                October 20, 2020, seeking public comment on considerations for
                instituting trials before the Office under the Leahy Smith America
                Invents Act (AIA). Through this document, the USPTO is extending the
                period for public comment until December 3, 2020.
                DATES: Comment date: Written comments must be received on or before
                December 3, 2020.
                ADDRESSES: For reasons of government efficiency, comments must be
                submitted through the Federal eRulemaking Portal at
                www.regulations.gov. To submit comments via the portal, enter docket
                number PTO-C-2020-0055 on the home page and click ``search.'' The site
                will provide a search results page listing all
                [[Page 73438]]
                documents associated with this docket. Find a reference to this Request
                for Comments and click on the ``Comment Now!'' icon, complete the
                required fields, and enter or attach your comments. Attachments to
                electronic comments will be accepted in ADOBE[supreg] portable document
                format or MICROSOFT WORD[supreg] format. Because comments will be made
                available for public inspection, information that the submitter does
                not desire to make public, such as an address or phone number, should
                not be included in the comments.
                 Visit the Federal eRulemaking Portal (www.regulations.gov) for
                additional instructions on providing comments via the portal. If
                electronic submission of comments is not feasible due to a lack of
                access to a computer and/or the internet, please contact the USPTO
                using the contact information below for special instructions regarding
                how to submit comments by mail or by hand delivery, based on the
                public's ability to obtain access to USPTO facilities at the time.
                FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Scott C. Weidenfeller, Vice Chief
                Administrative Patent Judge, by telephone at 571-272-9797.
                SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On October 20, 2020, the USPTO published a
                document in the Federal Register requesting public input on
                considerations for instituting trials before the Office under the
                Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA). See Request for Comments on
                Discretion to Institute Trials Before the Patent Trial and Appeal
                Board, 85 FR 66502 (Oct. 20, 2020). In that document, the USPTO
                indicated it is considering the codification of its current policies
                and practices, or the modification thereof, through rulemaking and
                wished to gather public comments on the Office's current approach and
                on various other approaches suggested to the Office by stakeholders. To
                assist in gathering public input, the USPTO published questions, and
                sought focused public comments, on appropriate considerations for
                instituting AIA trials. The document requested public comments on or
                before November 19, 2020.
                 Through this document, the USPTO is extending the period for public
                comment until December 3, 2020, to give interested members of the
                public additional time to submit comments. All other information and
                instructions to commenters provided in the October 20, 2020, notice
                remain unchanged. Previously submitted comments do not need to be
                resubmitted.
                Andrei Iancu,
                Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of
                the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
                [FR Doc. 2020-25490 Filed 11-17-20; 8:45 am]
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