{"abstract":"The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seeks to form a partnership with the software community to enhance the quality of software-related patents (Software Partnership). Members of the public are invited to participate. The Software Partnership will be an opportunity to bring stakeholders together through a series of roundtable discussions to share ideas, feedback, experiences, and insights on software-related patents. To commence the Software Partnership and to provide increased opportunities for all to participate, the USPTO is sponsoring two roundtable events with identical agendas, one in Silicon Valley, and the other in New York City. Each roundtable event will provide a forum for an informal and interactive discussion of topics relating to patents that are particularly relevant to the software community. While public attendees will have the opportunity to provide their individual input, group consensus advice will not be sought. For these initial roundtable events, this notice sets forth several topics to begin the Software Partnership discussion. The first topic relates to how to improve clarity of claim boundaries that define the scope of patent protection for claims that use functional language. The second topic requests that the public identify additional topics for future discussion by the Software Partnership. The third topic relates to a forthcoming Request for Comments on Preparation of Patent Applications and offers an opportunity for oral presentations on the Request for Comments at the Silicon Valley and New York City roundtable events. Written comments are requested in response to the first two discussion topics. Written comments on the third discussion topic must be submitted as directed in the forthcoming Request for Comments on Preparation of Patent Applications.","action":"Request for comments. Notice of meetings.","agencies":[{"raw_name":"DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE","name":"Commerce Department","id":54,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/commerce-department","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/54","parent_id":null,"slug":"commerce-department"},{"raw_name":"United States Patent and Trademark Office","name":"Patent and Trademark Office","id":402,"url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/agencies/patent-and-trademark-office","json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/agencies/402","parent_id":54,"slug":"patent-and-trademark-office"}],"body_html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/html/2013/01/03/2012-31594.html","cfr_references":[],"citation":"78 FR 292","comment_url":null,"comments_close_on":null,"correction_of":null,"corrections":[],"dates":"Events: The Silicon Valley event will be held on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, beginning at 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST) and ending at 12 p.m. PST. The New York City event will be held on Wednesday, February 27, 2013, beginning at 9 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (e.s.t.) and ending at 12 p.m. e.s.t.","disposition_notes":null,"docket_ids":["Docket No. PTO-P-2012-0052"],"dockets":[],"document_number":"2012-31594","effective_on":null,"end_page":295,"executive_order_notes":null,"executive_order_number":null,"explanation":null,"full_text_xml_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/xml/2013/01/03/2012-31594.xml","html_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2013/01/03/2012-31594/request-for-comments-and-notice-of-roundtable-events-for-partnership-for-enhancement-of-quality-of","images":{},"images_metadata":{},"json_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/api/v1/documents/2012-31594?publication_date=2013-01-03","mods_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/metadata/granule/FR-2013-01-03/2012-31594/mods.xml","not_received_for_publication":null,"page_length":4,"page_views":{"count":3468,"last_updated":"2026-04-16 10:15:13 -0400"},"pdf_url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2013-01-03/pdf/2012-31594.pdf","presidential_document_number":null,"proclamation_number":null,"public_inspection_pdf_url":"https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2012-31594.pdf?1357143252","publication_date":"2013-01-03","raw_text_url":"https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/full_text/text/2013/01/03/2012-31594.txt","regulation_id_number_info":{},"regulation_id_numbers":[],"regulations_dot_gov_info":{"supporting_documents":[],"comments_url":"https://www.regulations.gov/docketBrowser?rpp=50&so=DESC&sb=postedDate&po=0&dct=PS&D=PTO-P-2012-0052","supporting_documents_count":0,"docket_id":"PTO-P-2012-0052","regulation_id_number":null,"title":"Request for Comments and Notice of Roundtable Events for Partnership for Enhancement of Quality of Software-Related Patents","checked_regulationsdotgov_at":"2013-02-19T17:34:47Z"},"regulations_dot_gov_url":null,"significant":null,"signing_date":null,"start_page":292,"subtype":null,"title":"Request for Comments and Notice of Roundtable Events for Partnership for Enhancement of Quality of Software-Related Patents","toc_doc":"Roundtable Events for Partnership for Enhancement of Quality of Software-Related Patents","toc_subject":null,"topics":[],"type":"Notice","volume":78}