USPTO open process solves the aff

Since my arrival at the USPTO in April 2022, we have issued twelve formal requests for comments on issues related to all aspects of the IP system. As a result, through June 2023, about 5,000 comments have been submitted from parties engaged in preserving and strengthening our nation's most valuable asset: its intellectual property.

[*244] We've also engaged actively in the court system, including with the Department of Justice at the Supreme Court. We've also collaborated with Congress to shape our IP laws and jurisprudence to best serve our mission.

Over the twelve months ending in June 2023, the USPTO has issued guidance to promote transparency and consistency and issued five proposed rulemakings. The most notable of these rulemaking efforts was the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ARPRM) for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). We invited input from the public on proposed changes to discretionary institution of trials, word limits in petitions, and settlement practices under the America Invents Act.

The comment period for this notice closed in mid-June 2023. We are currently assessing the more than 14,500 submissions, the greatest number of comments we have ever received from a proposed rulemaking. And, yes, many of them were generated with AI, although as I always say, it is not the quantity but the quality of the comments that we consider. We listen to any good idea from anyone in any form.

We used the ANPRM to collect additional data on proposals to codify our existing guidance, proposals from stakeholders to adapt that guidance, and proposals from stakeholders with their ideas to comport the USPTO's PTAB procedures to the mission and vision of the USPTO and the intent behind the America Invents Act (AIA). We've now received feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders including on whether each proposal would advance those goals. We will use that feedback in determining which ideas to shape into rules and, importantly, which ideas we will not move forward with.

What comes next is the NPRM, or the notice of proposed rulemaking. The NPRM will set forth our proposed rules and will request comments on our plan. It will consist of proposed regulatory texts. After the NPRM is published in the Federal Register and after public feedback--that's when we can proceed to a final rule.

Our rulemaking was in direct response to what we are hearing from stakeholders and seeing in the Office. We know that there are users of our IP system who game the system for private gain at the expense of the interests of our country. Having practiced within the IP bar, I've seen this from both sides of the "v" -- from both the plaintiff and defendant side. I'm sure most of the readers of this journal have seen this as well.

We've heard this directly from IP practitioners and lawyers. I want to stress that for all of the initiatives being undertaken by the USPTO to improve the IP system, we are putting the interests of our country first. It is how the USPTO, NIST, and the Department of Justice approached the withdrawal of the U.S. Government's Standards-Essential Patent (SEP) policy statement in June 2022. 2We heard from advocates of the 2021 draft statement, and those who wanted the preceding 2019 statement to stay in place. The public commentary was strong and sometimes fierce on both sides.

When we convened meetings of small groups and focused not just on what was good for one industry or one company, but on what was best for the country, people set aside their own interests. They helped shape something that works for everyone.

[*245] This is the type of approach that we are taking for everything we do when implementing our core principles.

The core to all of our work at the USPTO is our focus on the quality of the intellectual property protections we issue and register. We are moving forward with initiatives to enhance the prosecution of patent applications, and ensure that when we issue a patent, the holder has the confidence they need to make long-term investment decisions needed to bring their innovations to market.

We are currently reviewing the submissions from a request for comments we issued on ensuring the robustness and reliability of patent rights. We expect to issue proposed rules for additional comments regarding our plans to refine our examination policies and procedures to further enhance quality.