"It's All About Quality" Says Senior Legal Advisor to USPTO, Elizabeth L. Dougherty to Patent Lawyers in Seattle

Speaking today to a packed room full of Seattle patent lawyers disenchanted with current USPTO policy on, among other topics, continuations and claims rules, Senior PTO Legal Advisor Elizabeth L. Dougherty spoke sanguinely about the future of the controversial rules without providing specific information regarding the Office's current litigation position. Today's keynote address in Seattle was at the monthly meeting of the Washington State Patent Law Association at the Washington Athletic Club. The original topic of Ms. Dougherty's address was "Overview of the New USPTO Rules Effective 11/01/07 (Re: Continued Examination Filings, Applications Containing Pat. Indistinct Claims, etc.)." Not surprisingly, this topic was changed in view of ongoing litigation between the USPTO and GlaxoSmithKline/Tafas over the proposed rule changes. If for some reason you haven't heard, or haven't followed this case, here and here are some links to get you up to speed.

Ms. Dougherty was tight-lipped about the ongoing case, saying only that the USPTO plans to "defend vigorously" its new rules and that the lawsuit was seen inside the office as "bigger" than the new rules; explaining that its outcome could impact "more broadly, the rule making ability of all government agencies" not just the PTO.

In view of the ongoing litigation, Ms. Doughtery's topic was changed to the "Future of Patents and the USPTO." That future is bright according to her presentation, which summarized the recent statistical update released a couple weeks ago by the office. For a complete listing of recent stats from the USPTO, click here (pdf). While the statistics show a dramatic decrease in allowance rate (from over 70% in 2000 to about 54% currently), Ms Dougherty explained that this is because of the USPTO's focus on quality. Quality was the theme of the presentation which also discussed various pilot programs within the USPTO aimed at increasing quality, including a peer review process where the public may comment on published applications.

Despite her somewhat grumpy audience, I thought Ms. Dougherty's presentation was well received. She also came bearing gifts, including neat squishy USPTO light bulbs. If the new rules ever go into effect, you can expect these "stress relievers" will get a lot of use.

Here is a complete copy of the slides for her presentation.
Future%20of%20Patents%20and%20the%20USPTO%20%2880145198%29.pdf