Federal Circuit to Rehear Case on PTO Rules Overhaul

On July 6, 2009, the Federal Circuit granted a petition to rehear Tafas v. Doll en banc. The case focuses on whether the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has the authority to limit the number of patent claims in an application, restrict the number of continuation applications that can be filed based on a patent application, and adopt other related rules. In March, a split three-judge panel found in favor of the USPTO on several key issues and against the USPTO on other issues. The dissenting judge stated the USPTO "exceeded its statutory rulemaking authority in promulgating these rules."

Defendant John J. Doll is the acting Director of the USPTO. The plaintiffs are inventor Triantafyllos Tafas and GlaxoSmithKline. Briefs for both parties are due at the end of August.