Patent prosecution can be frustratingly complicated, and the USPTO has created special programs to reign in the usual chaos. Knowing these programs, their purpose, and their success rate can hugely benefit your patent practice.

Technology Center 2400 handles data processing and telecommunications technologies, including multiplex and VoIP, cable and television, recording and compression, cryptography and security, and computer networks.

Technology Center 2800 handles a wide range of electrical technologies, including semiconductors, circuits, optics, and printing.

Much has been made about the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While it is clear that the pandemic and its associated lockdowns have resulted in a sharp economic contraction, it is unclear what effect—if any—it will have on the USPTO in terms of patent filing and other patent prosecution-related activity.

With so much going on in the world during the first half of 2020 — a global pandemic, an economic recession, and widespread protest movements — developments in the intellectual property sphere have largely flown under the radar. But that does not mean 2020 has been bereft of patent news.

On this year’s World IP Day, WIPO Director General Francis Gurry called for a surge in green tech patenting to fight climate change. His charge follows a report that patenting for green energy technologies has slowed.

The USPTO has announced that, in accordance with the CARES Act, it is further extending the deadlines to file certain patent-related documents or fees to June 1, 2020.

Following industry news these days, it’s hard to avoid theories that the economic instability created by COVID-19 will be the death of patent prosecution.

Prompted by the CARES Act, the USPTO announced extensions to the time allowed to file certain patent-related documents and to pay certain required fees. Legal teams can use patent analytics tools like Juristat to quickly identify which applications qualify.

In 2019, the USPTO issued revised § 101 guidance, while the Senate Judiciary Committee Subcommittee on Intellectual Property held a series of high-profile hearings on a legislative proposal to abrogate Alice. Several patent-related bills were also introduced in Congress, including the STRONGER Patents Act and the Inventor Rights Act.

As we continue to monitor those developments, we now turn our attention to the future to speculate as to what the new year might hold for the patent world.