Compact Examination

Posted Monday, February 08, 2010 by Jim Ruttler.

Patent examiners have been initiating contact over the phone to suggest amendments or provide prior art in order to expedite examination. Traditionally, this has been very rare and examiners have relied solely on written rejections. The benefit of the phone calls is that it helps applicant’s understand right away where the issues are and allows for quick amendments to address the examiner’s concerns. Ultimately, this leads to more compact examination and faster allowance. Indeed, the Director of the Patne Office has recently confirmed my experiences in the following blog posting.

http://www.uspto.gov/blog/director/entry/thanks_patents_team_compact_prosecution

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