News archive
Latest News and Articles:
Green Office – the year 2011
Once again, we have a successful year as a member of the Green Office environmental program behind us...<<Read more
Processing applications in English (and the London Agreement)
On 1st November 2011 the London Agreement came into force in Finland. The aim of this agreement is to reduce the costs relating to the translation of European patents... <<Read more
The Nordic Chemist Meeting
In September, three of our patent attorneys attended the so-called Nordic Chemist Meeting directed to the chemists of the patent industry. The main focus of the meeting is a series of lectures and workshops covering current subjects related to patenting, particularly from a chemical perspective... <<Read more
USPTO Fees Increase Today
Today marks the second set of changes to be implemented from the recently enacted Leahy-Smith American Invents Act (the new U.S. patent legislation). The most noticeable change today is the automatic increase of 15% for nearly all USPTO fees... <<Read more
New US Patent Law
President Obama signed the new U.S. Patent Act (Leahy-Smith America Invents Act H.R. 1249) on Friday, September 16th thereby making it a Law... <<Read more
Allowability of disclaimers according to EPO decision G 2/10
In the G 2/10 decision on 30 August 2011, the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal (EBA) ruled on the allowability of disclaimers excluding protection for subject-matter that relates to a specific disclosure, such as a preferred embodiment. The EBA allowed such disclaimers in principle, but such disclaimers are, as any other amendment, subject to the so-called disclosure test... <<Read more
Kathy Wasström qualified as European Patent Attorney
Our patent agent Kathy Wasström has continued our successful traditions by passing the European Qualifying Examination (EQE) this year. Kathy will serve our clients as a qualified European Patent Attorney in the field of chemical (and biochemical) technology, in which she has gained experience for seven years now... <<Read more
GREEN OFFICE NEWS
Office premises and workplaces have a key role in energy consumption and sustainable solutions. The Green Office scheme encourages personnel to co-operate and to do ecological deeds, while at the same time improving the actions of the organisation in other areas as well... <<Read more
Duty of disclosure vs. enforceability of US patent
The past few years has seen a shocking number of inequitable conduct cases in the U.S. which are based on prior art which the applicant was aware of but which was not submitted to the USPTO. This has led to more than a few patents being found unenforceable due to inequitable conduct even though they would otherwise have been patentable... <<Read more
US Patent Reform Act of 2011, a step towards harmonization?
Over the past 5 to 6 years there has been significant talk of patent reform in the U.S. as well as a number of failed attempts at reforming the patent system by the U.S. Congress. The Patent Reform Act of 2011 (S. 23) has now passed its first hurdle... <<Read more
EPO's new rule amendments
As part of the so-called Utilization Pilot Project which aims to avoid overlapping work between national patent offices, and according to new rules 141 and 70B of the European Patent Convention entering into force in the beginning of 2011, the European Patent Office will require that an applicant reports the novelty search results of a priority application to the EPO as soon as possible... <<Read more
Pre-Appeal Brief Conference statistics
For many U.S. patent applicants, the words “Final Office Action” are seen more often than they would ideally like. Deciding what to do after a Final Office Action often comes down to choosing the lesser of two evils... <<Read more
"Is Obviousness Obvious", an article by Joshua P. Wert (originally published in the IPRinfo magazine 03/2010)
As a U.S. Patent Examiner, the U.S. patent system was relatively straight forward to me. ... Unlike an examiner, a practitioner cannot rely solely on his or her knowledge of an art to argue non-obviousness... <<Read more
EPO's effort regarding patent quality and examination speed shows
The EPO finished the examination of over 102 000 patent applications during 2009. The number is 13 % higher than in 2008... <<Read more
The NewOmbudsman Program of USPTO
Applicants and their representatives have been complaining for years that the U.S. patent system is confusing and often contradictory. Additionally, when problems or issues arise during patent prosecution it is often difficult to find out whom at the USPTO is responsible for dealing with them... <<Read more
Ms Solveig Strömsholm was been working for our company for 30 years
Ms. Solveig Strömsholm (BA Econ.) has worked for 30 years for our company. Solveig has been actively involved in building up the company from the very beginning... <<Read more
Prosecution of EP applications becomes more straightforward
As of April 1, 2010 the EP application process has, to some extent, remarkably changed in order to reduce the prosecution time of applications... <<Read more
Patent Prosecution Highway based on PCT search (PCT-PPH)
As of January 29th 2010, Applicants who have a favorable search report from a PCT application may be able to have the national stage case examined quickly... <<Read more
The EPO has expanded the interpretation of second medical use
According to the recent decision G 2/08 of the enlarged board of appeal, a use of a known medicament for the treatment of a known desease, even if it were known to use that medicament for the treatment of that desease, is patentable... <<Read more
News and articles concerning European patent practice
Maintaining our professional know-how is of utmost importance to us. In this news column we want to distribute up-to-date information relating to European patents also to our clients and partners in cooperation. We believe that in this way our clients will get the maximum out of the European patent system.
Do not hesitate to contact us should you need further information on any particular topic.
Sakari Arvela
European Patent Attorney
News and articles concerning U.S. patent practice
Welcome to Seppo Laine’s Intellectual Property news page pertaining to the United States. Here you will be able to find a glimpse of what is happening in the IP world in the States.
My name is Joshua Wert and until December of 2009 I was an examiner at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. I examined patent applications in the electronic gaming art such as slot machines, video poker games, video game consoles and video game software. Basically, if a claim had the word “game” in it then it could show up on my desk. In addition to having been an examiner, I am also a registered Patent Agent in the U.S.
Prior to my work at the USPTO I attended the University of Maryland at College Park (UMD) and received a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. At UMD I was an active member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the University Rowing Team and the Human Powered Submarine Design Team. In January of 2010 I relocated from the Washington, DC area to Helsinki and took a position here at Seppo Laine.
While I develop my own knowledge of foreign (to me) patent systems, hopefully I can shed some light on what can be a confusing U.S. patent system. Check back regularly to see what is new!
Joshua Wert
U.S. Patent Agent