USPTO Offers RCE Filings Roundtable/Focus Session

USPTO OFFERS RCE FILINGS ROUNDTABLE/FOCUS SESSION

The High Tech Law Institute of Santa Clara Law is pleased to host an upcoming USPTO roundtable and focus session on February 20, 2013 at 9:00. RSVP's will be taken by the USPTO on a first come first serve basis.

To register, please send an email message to rceoutreach@uspto.gov and provide the following information: (1) Your name, title, and if applicable, company or organization, address, phone number, and email address; (2) which event you wish to attend; (3) which session you wish to attend (i.e., roundtable and/or focus session); and (4) if you wish to make an oral presentation at the roundtable, the specific topic or issue to be addressed and the approximate desired length of your presentation. Each attendee, even if from the same organization, must register separately.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) seeks to learn more about the root causes for RCE filings as a basis for the consideration and design of procedural modifications and educational initiatives to promote compact prosecution. The purpose of this effort is not to eliminate RCE practice, or in any way disadvantage it. But rather, the purpose is to enable applicants to use RCE practice when needed, while avoiding it where equal or better options are available. As part of this effort, the Office, in collaboration with PPAC, has recently initiated an RCE Outreach program which seeks to gather input from stakeholders on the underlying reasons for RCE filings and viable alternatives to filing RCEs. The Office is providing a variety of venues for stakeholders to share their ideas with the Office and with each other. A complete description of the opportunities to participate, as well as the Federal Register Notice can be found at the RCE Outreach website at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/rce_outreach.jsp.

REGISTRATION: Registration is required for either or both of the roundtable and focus session portions of each event. Early registration is recommended because seating is limited. There is no fee to register for the events, and registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration on the day of the event will be permitted on a space-available basis beginning 30 minutes before the event.