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Section
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Disclaimer Practice in Patents and Patent Applications
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) proposes to amend the rules of practice to expand when certain types of patent applicants and patentees may, subject to other conditions, obtain or enforce a second patent for an invention that is similar (i.e., patentably indistinct) to a first patent. Ordinarily, in examination before the...
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Small Entity Government Use License Exception
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is amending the rules of practice in patent cases to clarify and expand exceptions to the rule pertaining to government use licenses and their effect on small entity status for purposes of paying reduced patent fees. The rule change is designed to support independent inventors,...
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Equal Participation of Faith-Based Organizations in the Federal Agencies' Programs and Activities
This rule amends the regulations of the agencies listed above (``the Agencies'') to implement Executive Order 13831 of May 3, 2018 (Establishment of a White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative). This rule provides clarity about the rights and obligations of faith-based organizations participating in the Agencies' Federal financial assistance...
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Trademark Fee Adjustment
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) is setting or adjusting certain trademark fees, as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), as amended by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 (SUCCESS Act). The changes will allow the USPTO to continue to recover...
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Compliance With Court Orders by Personnel and Command Sponsored Family Members
This final rule removes DoD's regulation concerning policies on compliance with court orders by DoD employees and DoD Members. The purpose of the DoD Instruction on which this rule is based is to provide internal guidance to DoD Components on cooperation with law enforcement agencies. Although civil authorities, who may be considered the public...
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Review and Issuance of Agency Guidance Documents
In a final rule published in the Federal Register on June 3, 2020, and effective on July 6, 2020, we amended the U.S. Department of Agriculture's administrative regulations by adding procedural regulations for the review and issuance of agency guidance documents as mandated by Executive Order. The final rule contained an incorrect email address...
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Setting and Adjusting Patent Fees During Fiscal Year 2020
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) sets or adjusts patent fees as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (Act or AIA), as amended by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 (SUCCESS Act). The USPTO is a business-like operation where the demand for patent...
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Changes to Representation of Others Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) proposes to amend the Rules of Practice in Patent Cases and the rules regarding Representation of Others before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. This rulemaking proposes to align the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct more closely with the ABA Model Rules of...
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Trademark Fee Adjustment
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) proposes to set or adjust certain trademark fees, as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), as amended by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 (SUCCESS Act). The proposed fees are intended to recover the...
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Patent Term Adjustment Reductions in View of the Federal Circuit Decision in Supernus Pharm., Inc. v. Iancu.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is revising the rules of practice pertaining to patent term adjustment in view of the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) in Supernus Pharm., Inc. v. Iancu (Supernus). The Federal Circuit in Supernus held that a reduction of patent term...
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Review and Issuance of Agency Guidance Documents
This final rule amends the U.S. Department of Agriculture's administrative regulations by adding procedural regulations for the review and issuance of agency guidance documents.
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Social Security Number Fraud Prevention
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its regulations to implement the Social Security Number Fraud Prevention Act of 2017. This statute directed agencies to issue regulations that prohibit the inclusion of an individual's Social Security account number (Social Security number or SSN) on any document sent through the mail...
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Small Entity Government Use License Exception
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is proposing to amend the rules of practice in patent cases to clarify and expand exceptions to the rule pertaining to government use licenses and their effect on small entity status for purposes of paying reduced patent fees so as to support independent inventors, small business...
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Modernizing the Administrative Exhaustion Requirement for Permitting Decisions and Streamlining Procedures for Permit Appeals
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposes a procedural rule intended to streamline and modernize part of the Agency's permitting process by creating a new, time-limited alternative dispute resolution process (ADR process) as a precondition to judicial review. Under this proposal, the parties in the ADR process may agree by unanimous...
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Removal of Regulations Governing Requests for Presidential Proclamations Under the Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 (SCPA) and Certain Rules of Practice Relating to Registration To Practice and Discipline
In accordance with Executive Order 13777, ``Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,'' and Executive Order 13771, ``Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs,'' the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) proposes to remove its regulations governing requests for Presidential Proclamations under the Semiconductor...
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Patent Term Adjustment Reductions in View of the Federal Circuit Decision in Supernus Pharm., Inc.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) is proposing to revise the rules of practice pertaining to patent term adjustment in view of the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) in Supernus Pharm., Inc. v. Iancu (Supernus). The Federal Circuit in Supernus held that a reduction of patent term...
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Eliminating Unnecessary Regulations
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) hereby amends the Rules of Practice in Patent Cases and Trial Practice Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) by removing provisions in the Code of Federal Regulations that are no longer necessary. This final rule removes the rules governing reservation clauses, petitions...
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Increase of the Annual Limit on Accepted Requests for Track I Prioritized Examination
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (America Invents Act) includes provisions for prioritized examination of patent applications, which have been implemented by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) in previous rulemakings. The America Invents Act provides that the Office may not accept more than 10,000 requests for...
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Changes to the Trademark Rules of Practice To Mandate Electronic Filing
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) amends the Rules of Practice in Trademark Cases and the Rules of Practice in Filings Pursuant to the Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks to mandate electronic filing of trademark applications and all submissions associated...
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Setting and Adjusting Patent Fees During Fiscal Year 2020
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) proposes to set or adjust patent fees as authorized by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (Act or AIA), as amended by the Study of Underrepresented Classes Chasing Engineering and Science Success Act of 2018 (SUCCESS Act). The USPTO is a business-like operation where the demand for...