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Welcome to the Malloy & Malloy, P.L.
Intellectual Property law Blog
Our goal is to provide some general information about recent developments and interesting news impacting Patent, Trademark and Copyright Issues. Please feel free to check back often for the latest.
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En Banc Federal Circuit Will Rehear Case Challenging Proposed PTO Rules
07-07-2009 [Ben Hanrahan] [Permalink]Yesterday, July 6, 2009, the Federal Circuit granted an en banc rehearing on the Tafas v. Doll case where Plaintiffs challenged proposed PTO rules that would provide certain limitations and/or requirements for continuing patent applications, requests for continued examinations, and the number of claims presented in a given patent application. In doing so, the Federal Circuit vacated its March 20, 2009 opinion (Tafas v. Doll, 559 F.3d 1345) which held (1) that all of the proposed PTO rules at issue were procedural in nature, and (2) that a rule limiting an applicant to two continuation applications, unless the applicant files a petition showing that the amendment, argument, or evidence could not have been submitted earlier, is inconsistent with 35 U.S.C. §120.
The Federal Circuit's July 6, 2009 order can be read here, and the previous, now vacated, March 20, 2009 decision can be read here.