This article discusses an amendment to patent reform legislation released by the Senate Judiciary Committee in March of 2010. The author explains a new procedure introduced in the amendment called "supplemental examination" that (s)he describes as a likely "effective tool to bar an inequitable conduct allegation if the USPTO considers potentially material prior art that does not raise a new question of patentability." Finally, the author details significant revisions to patent reform’s "post-grant review."
This article was originally published in the April 2010 issue of Finnegan's Full Disclosure newsletter.