Articles by Michael Gzybowski

IP in Depth

IP Makes America Great

The need for strong protection of intellectual property rights is greater now than ever before.

April 3, 2017

The main purpose of the U.S. Constitution was to establish the basic rights of all American citizens and provide direction on how the government should work. During the colonial era, intellectual property (IP) in America was actually owned by Great Britain.

Track One Prioritized Examination

The benefits of Track One examination can more than offset the initial request fee for applicants who need to get their patents granted quickly.

Michael Gzybowski

February 1, 2017

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On January 31, 2011, the White House announced the launch of the Startup America initiative and noted that the Department of Commerce was “finalizing a plan to allow entrepreneurs to request faster review of their patents, an initiative that should lower patent pendency times overall and speed the deployment of new ideas to the marketplace.

IP in Depth

Taking Advantage of the Post-Prosecution Pilot Program

The P3 is initially scheduled to run for six months until January 11, 2017, or until 1,600 requests are received.

Michael Gzybowski

December 1, 2016

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Once the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues a Final Rejection, a patent applicant is faced with an important decision regarding what to do next. Options include: filing a Notice of Appeal, filing a Request for Continued Examination (RCE), filing an after final response or amendment, or abandoning the application.

IP in Depth

Using Examiner Interviews to Advance Patent Applications

It may be hard to imagine that patent applicants and examiners have common goals.

Michael Gzybowski

September 1, 2016

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From 2008 to 2012, the percentage of examiner interviews conducted for U.S. patent applications nearly doubled from about 15 to 30%. In 2012, 90% of applications in which examiner interviews were conducted were allowed, compared to a 61% allowance rate for patents in which no interviews were conducted. These trends have continued.

IP in Depth

Post-Issuance Challenges to Patent Validity

The USPTO instituted a collection of post-issuance review procedures that allow patentees and third parties to challenge the validity of patents.

Michael Gzybowski

June 1, 2016

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More than 30 years ago when I started my career as a patent examiner in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), there was a common phrase that went something like this: “Patents are not valid until they are litigated.”

IP in Depth: Unscrupulous Activities of Non-Practicing Entities Continue

A NPE is an entity that holds a patent for a product or process but has no intention of developing it.

Michael Gzybowski

February 1, 2016

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Last year saw 5,769 new patent suits filed in federal district courts, representing a 15% increase over the previous year, with non-practicing entities (NPEs) filing two out of every three of these suits.

IP in Depth: Expedited Patent Appeals

On average, there is a 3.3-year time period between the beginning of a patent examination until an appeal is filed. What happens during that time?

Michael Gzybowski

January 4, 2016

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Almost 11,000 appeal decisions were made by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during 2015, with an average of nearly 30 months for an appeal decision to be made.

IP in Depth: Evaluating Patent Examiners

It would be nice if applicants for a U.S. patent could review ratings of patent examiners.

Michael Gzybowski

June 1, 2015

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I shop a lot on Amazon. Even when I do not buy from Amazon, I look up products on Amazon.com to read product ratings and reviews posted by other customers in order to help me decide on my purchases.

IP in Depth: Understanding Supplemental Patent Examinations

A problem arises when a U.S. patent applicant becomes aware of relevant prior art after receiving a notice of allowance.

Michael Gzybowski

April 1, 2015

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Over the last 10 years, patent pendency measured from U.S. filing date until allowance of a patent application has been just over three years.

IP in Depth: Fixing the Application Backlog

Favoring the examination of either new applications or RCEs over the other does not seem like a practical or equitable solution to the backlogs.

Michael Gzybowski

February 2, 2015

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In my March 2014 column (“Compact Prosecution,” pp. 9-10), I discussed how U.S. patent applicants resorted to filing requests for continued examination (RCE) applications as the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) stayed the course on compact prosecution.