|
Newly
Enacted 18 Month Patent Publication Provision
Under
the American Inventor’s Protection Act (AIPA), the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will
publish almost all US Patent applications filed on or
after November 29, 2000 that have or will be filed in a
foreign country or under a multilateral agreement that
requires publication at eighteen months.
Publication will occur eighteen months after the
earliest effective filing date.
The
eighteen-month publication provisions apply to
divisionals, continuations, continuation in part, and
international applications entering the national phase
in the US. The
$300.00 cost of publication will be set forth in the
Notice of allowance and payment will be required within
the time for payment of the issue fee.
Upon
filing an applicant can request that the application not
be published at the eighteen-month mark.
The applicant must certify that the invention
disclosed in the application has not and will not be the
subject of an application filed in a foreign country, or
under a multilateral international agreement, that
requires publication of applications eighteen months
after filing.
Such request may be rescinded at any time.
An
applicant who makes a request not to publish the
application at eighteen months and who later files in
foreign country that requires publishing of the
application at eighteen months, must notify the Director
of the USPTO no later than forty five days after the
date of the foreign filing. If the applicant does not
comply, then the application will be regarded as
abandoned.
If
an application is published under the AIPA eighteen
month provisions, the patent right includes the right to
a reasonable royalty for the period between the date of
publication and date of patent grant provided that: (a)
actual notice of the publication is given, (b) patent
claims are substantially identical to claims in the
published application, and (c) an English translation is
filed for international applications designating the
United States.
|
