David Kappos is the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property; he is the Director of the US Patent and Trademark Office. A patent law blog has reprinted what is said to be an internal email from Director Kappos to employees at USPTO. In it he explains that his financial team had provided Congress with a projected fee income (based on collections as of September, 2009) of $1.887 billion dollars for fiscal year 2010.  He has explained that though fee revenue is over $100 million above budgeted goals, the critical functions USPTO provides are “on a bare-bones basis” and are still under-financed and under-staffed. In fact, he states that the Office’s “infrastructure needs are dire… (and) antiquated IT systems”.  He goes on in his email to reference a letter he has sent to other Washington leadership asking Congress “to develop long-term financial solutions that will establish a sustainable budget… over multiple years.” One suggestion he has made to help achieve this financial goal is for the USPTO to have “fee-setting authority” included in any reform legislation.

We have written about our continued though slipping leadership in annual numbers of patent awards compared to other countries. We have also reported delays in processing patent applications. Kappos’s internal memo yields insights that reverberate through many government agencies and departments at the federal, state, and local levels. Our lack of focus on infrastructure, whether information systems, computer hardware, sewers, bridges, or roads; compounded by the speed at which technology has changed our lives, our needs, and our world, is now emerging as a key constraint in our ability to remain competitive in the world. We have failed to carefully apply strategic planning to our national agenda preserving the quality of our lives as Americans and remaining a leader in the world community.

Innovation and its fruit, intellectual property (IP), is the fuel for future commercialization, future competitive leadership, and future prosperity. Management of the IP lifecycle, from conceptualization to maturity as a licensed asset, requires specialized care and experienced handling. Stay current with patent news by reading our Patents Blog. 

Sources: PatentlyO

The US Court of Appeals has rejected the US Patents and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent term adjustment (PTA) calculation (its interpretation of Section 154 (b) of the Patent Act) and has affirmed the judgment of US District Court for the District of Columbia in Wyeth v. Kappos (Fed. Cir. Jan. 7, 2010). Intellectual property owners have an opportunity now to extend the life of their patent in compensation for processing and administrative delays by the USPTO. 

US patents, with some exceptions, typically have a term of 20 years from the filing or priority date of the application. Under Section 154(b) of the Patent Act, the USPTO is required to extend the patent term if it fails to act promptly in the processing of an application. If the USPTO causes a delay for more than 3 years, it must compensate the patent filer by adding additional time to the term in equal proportion to the time of delay (35 USC 154(b)(1)(B)).

Statements issued by Wyeth (Madison, NJ), a leading pharmaceutical company recently acquired by Pfizer Inc. (New York, NY), expressed satisfaction that the Federal Circuit affirmed the opinion that USPTO was misapplying amendments in the American Inventors Protection Act (AIPA). Drug companies particularly benefit from this decision since the PTA directly affects recovery of financial costs due research and testing during the lifecycle of their patents.

Legal observers report that the USPTO has not followed the district court decision and, in fact, may still take actions to overturn the recent Federal Court decision. Patentees are advised to preserve their rights and seek whatever additional time to which they are entitled because of USPTO processing delays. A major theme in many blog posts here at Patents.com is that management of intellectual property needs proper handling by experienced Patent Attorneys who provide assistance in researching, analyzing, and managing patents and other intellectual property. 

Source: Law.com, Pepper Hamilton, LLP, IP Spotlight

ByAllAccounts, a corporation with headquarters in Woburn, MA, has been awarded a new patent for a financial data management system. This milestone marks the company’s 10th year business anniversary since its inception in 1999. Last year alone, ByAllAccounts’ financial aggregation services processed over $100 billion through their systems, doubling their figures from the year before.

ByAllAccounts’ financial account aggregation systems provide data collection and analysis to independent financial advisors and financial planners. Many large banks and financial institutions offer asset management services for their clients. Smaller companies in comparison are unable to compete due to the lack of resources and access to the latest financial data. ByAllAccounts, with their newly patented data management system , fills this gap by enabling individual financial advisors and wealth managers to gain a competitive edge in managing their clients’ financial assets portfolios. 

The patented system gathers information from thousands of sources and institutions. This information may include currencies, annuities, insurance, mutual funds, hedge funds, stocks, bonds, and many more. Collected data is then automatically downloaded, analyzed, organized into a usable format, and updated on a regular basis. The increase in popularity of financial aggregation systems is gaining momentum with smaller financial asset management firms because they are able to utilize them for the more effective management of their clients’ assets.  As for the independent financial advisors – they will finally gain a competitive edge over their corporate counterparts.

Source: PRNewsWire