Kappos Takes the Reins at the USPTO:
Former Patent Practitioner Expected to Foster a More Collaborative Environment

David Kappos, former Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at IBM, was confirmed as the new Undersecretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO on August 7, 2009. Many in the practitioner community are hopeful that a Director selected from their own ranks will foster a more collaborative environment between the office and its customers, as opposed to the more adversarial relationship that had developed under previous administrations. In his first few months, Director Kappos has encouraged the patent practitioner community with his comments on his vision for the Office and his policy decisions. While these initial steps are encouraging, he must still address the more significant and pervasive challenges of a staggering backlog of applications and budgetary constraints that are exacerbated by the current economic climate. We outline some of Director Kappos’ more important policy decisions made to date and speculate as to how the backlog and budget concerns may shape future decisions.

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Think Your PCT National Stage Deadline Has Passed? Think Again.

As patent practitioners and many clients know, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system provides a convenient mechanism to preserve foreign patent rights, while delaying the ultimate decision as to where exactly to file. This additional time often proves invaluable as it allows the marketplace to become aware of the product and the applicant to track or project product sales. With that information in hand, the decision to file, and where, hopefully becomes much easier.

The time limits imposed by the PCT are clear and steadfast, however. Taking a US applicant as an example, under the Paris Convention, a US patent applicant has a period of one (1) year from the date of the US application filing in which to file non-US applications and gain the priority of the US case. If no such foreign applications are filed, non-US patent rights are irrevocably lost. This is where the PCT application often is of benefit. While never granting any patentable rights, a PCT application can serve as that foreign patent application if filed within the twelve months afforded by the Paris Convention. For example, a US applicant can file a PCT within that one year Paris Convention period, and in so doing extend the deadline for filing national cases by an additional eighteen (18) months for a total of thirty (30) months from the US application date.

One commonly understood caveat to this rule is that with respect to the European Patent Office (EPO), and certain other countries, the applicant is afforded an additional month for a total of thirty-one (31) months from the US application date in which to file the EPO national stage application. The 30/31 month rule is without exception and ubiquitous across all 142 member countries party to the PCT.

We all know, though, that real life does not always work out so conveniently…Download the File in PDF Format

Bucking the Trend, MMH Expands Again
Firm adds automotive capabilities to roster

Four years ago, Tom, Brent and I founded MMH so we could provide quality patent prosecution and opinion services at reasonable rates, and so we could provide an alternative to high billing rates charged by larger patent firms and general practice firms. Our strategy worked before the recession hit; we had to hire two patent agents, Frank Yang, PhD (Organic Chemistry) in 2006 and Robin O (Electrical Engineering) in 2007 to satisfy the demands of our clients.

Our strategy continued to work during the recession. While, we experienced a slowdown in 2008-09, no one at MMH was laid off. In fact, before the recession was declared "over" by any economist (which, of course is still being debated), we needed to expand again.

Our latest patent agent is Helya Azari, who earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the alma mater of Robin and Brent--the University of Illinois.

Helya is Persian, born in Tehran. In 1985, in wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution, her family immigrated to Germany, where were they lived until 1990. In 1990, her family immigrated to United States, where she has lived ever since.

Helya speaks three languages, Farsi (her native tongue), German, which she learned as a child living in Germany, and of course English. Helya is our third multi-lingual professional at MMH; Robin speaks Korean and English with a working knowledge of both Japanese and French; and Frank speaks fluent Chinese and English. In addition to Helya, Brent also has a working knowledge of German. (Read more...)