In the Law360 article “Squires Confirmation Has Patent Attys Hoping For Stability,” partner Joseph Re shared his perspective on which USPTO policies should be a priority for Director John Squires, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate last week.
Re, who also serves on the Public Appointments Committee of the American Intellectual Properly Law Association, suggested that Squires’ initial focus should be to clarify what the PTO views as “settled expectations,” a policy which dictates when a patent is no longer eligible to be challenged in an IPR. “[S]ettled expectations do not arise simply based on the age of a patent,” he maintained, but rather, “the commercialization of the patent.”
Re noted that the criteria for settled expectations had been unclear in the hundreds of discretionary denials issued by the Acting Director over the last few months. “[P]eople just want to know what the rules are,” he said.
Re also expressed his hope for improvement of the agency’s examination process, advocating for more robust information in the prosecution history of a patent to ensure more certainty in future activities related to that patent.
Read Re’s full comments here [subscription required].
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