Supplementary Guidelines Issued By USPTO In Attempt To Improve Overall Quality Of Patents

 by: Joseph R. Carnicella, intellectual property associate with Picadio Sneath Miller & Norton, P.C. 

Press Release, 11-11 from the USPTO informs its readers that supplementary guidelines relating to Section 112 of the Patent Act have been issued in an attempt to improve the overall quality of patents.  Specifically, the purpose of the supplementary guidelines is to make sure that applicants and examiners strive to better define the scope of patent rights under 35 U.S.C. § 112.  The general public will benefit tremendously from these guidelines because applicants must now claim the invention in such a specific manner that the public will be on notice of exactly what is being claimed and protected by the patent.  These guidelines are designed to supplement the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP) and serve to assist examiners in determining whether claims comply with 35 U.S.C. § 112.  Click here to review the supplementary guidelines, which were publised in the Federal Register on February 9, 2011.