Patent Office to Hold Remote Meetings ‘Until Further Notice’

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) transitioned to holding remote meetings to try to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus. Core operations such as filing applications and paying maintenance fees will not be affected, as they are already handled electronically. While there will likely be an impact on post-grant proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), Finnegan partner Erika Arner told Bloomberg Law, “I think the PTAB is uniquely situated to handle this, because already so many of the hearings involve at least one judge participating remotely. I can’t remember the last argument we had where all three judges were in the room. For practitioners, we’re accustomed to arguing for people who aren’t physically in the room.” All PTAB judges are able to conduct remote video and telephone conferences.

Read the full article here.