Request for Comments on Enhancement in the Quality of Patents
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has in place procedures for measuring the quality of patent examination, including the decision to grant a patent based on an application and of other Office actions issued during the examination of the application. The USPTO in conjunction with the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) has undertaken a project related to overall patent quality. This notice is one element in that endeavor. As part of this effort to improve the quality of the overall patent examination and prosecution process, to reduce patent application pendency, and to ensure that granted patents are valid and provide clear notice, the USPTO would like to focus, inter alia, on improving the process for obtaining the best prior art, preparation of the initial application, and examination and prosecution of the application. The USPTO is seeking public comment directed to this focus with respect to methods that may be employed by applicants and the USPTO to enhance the quality of issued patents, to identify appropriate indicia of quality, and to establish metrics for the measurement of the indicia. This notice is not directed to patent law statutory change or substantive new rules. It is directed to the shared responsibility of the USPTO and the public for improving quality and reducing pendency within the existing statutory and regulatory framework. Comment Deadline Date: To be ensured of consideration, written comments must be received on or before February 8, 2010. No public hearing will be held.
- Task
- Read the news
- Patent or trademark
- both
- Legacy system
- —
- Current entry point
- www.federalregister.gov/documents/2009/12/09/E9-29328/request-for-comments-on-enhancement-in-the-quality-of-patents (permanent link in the Federal Register, verified 2026-09-30)
- Legacy system and where it moved
- No legacy system name mention in title or summary )
- Fee
- No fee mention in title or summary )
- What you need (account or API key)
- No account or key mention in title or summary )
- Published
- 2009-12-09
- Document type
- Notice
- Source
- USPTO documents published in the Federal Register (Federal Register API)(retrieved 2026-10-06)
Everything in the same category
Read the news (all 1988) · both (all 2333)
Related entry points
- Extension of Period for Comments on Enhancement in the Quality of Patents
- Changes To Practice for Continuing Applications, Requests for Continued Examination Practice, and Applications Containing Patentably Indistinct Claims
- Request for Comments on Preparation of Patent Applications
- Request for Comments on Proposed Change To Missing Parts Practice
- Notice of Roundtables and Request for Comments on Enhancement in the Quality of Patents and on United States Patent and Trademark Office Patent Quality Metrics
- Notice of Public Hearing and Request for Comments on Matters Related to the Harmonization of Substantive Patent Law
- Extension of Deadline for Requesting To Testify at the Public Hearings on the Proposed Changes To Require Identification of Attributable Owner
- Patent Quality Metrics for Fiscal Year 2017 and Request for Comments on Improving Patent Quality Measurement
- Request for Comments on Intellectual Property Enforcement in China
- Request for Comments on Enhancing Patent Quality
- Changes to Practice for the Examination of Claims in Patent Applications
- Request for Comments and Notice of Roundtable Event on Leveraging Electronic Resources To Retrieve Information From Applicant's Other Applications and Streamline Patent Issuance
- Changes To Require Identification of Attributable Owner
- Changes To Implement the Prioritized Examination Track (Track I) of the Enhanced Examination Timing Control Procedures
- Revisions and Technical Corrections Affecting Requirements for Ex Parte and Inter Partes Reexamination
- Extension of the Period for Comments on the Enhancement of Quality of Software-Related Patents