Federal Circuit Sides with PTO on Rule Changes

On March 20, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of the PTO with respect to three of the four new rules the PTO sought to implement before plaintiffs Tafas, Smithkline Beecham, and others, with strong support from the patent community, obtained a preliminary injunction in spring 2008 blocking the rules. Rules restricting patent applicants' ability to pursue patent applications with more than 25 claims were deemed acceptable, while rules governing continuations and requests for continued examination were in-part upheld and in-part deemed improperly substantive. The case is remanded to federal district court in Virginia for further consideration.

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