The USPTO has announced a new Artificial Intelligence Search Automated Pilot (ASAP!) Program beginning October 20, 2025 to test the USPTO’s internal artificial intelligence tool’s efficacy to conduct pre-examination prior art searches. There will be a limited number of patent applications which the USPTO will initially accept into the ASAP! […]

The USPTO announced on September 30, 2024 termination of the After Final Consideration Pilot (AFCP) 2.0 Program on December 15, 2024.  The last day to file an AFCP 2.0 request is December 14, 2024. The AFCP 2.0 Program was set to expire on September 30, 2024, so the USPTO provided […]

The USPTO has announced a new Semiconductor Technology Pilot Program to encourage research, development, and innovation in semiconductor manufacturing. The Semiconductor Technology Pilot Program began accepting applications on December 1, 2023 and will continue through December 2, 2024. According to the USPTO, the Semiconductor Technology Pilot Program supports the CHIPS […]

By:  Gene M. Garner II, Partner The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently announced: Microsoft Teams rather than Webex is now available for virtual interactions, including Examiner interviews; a new Patent Public Search webpage and a new Patent Public Search tool are available. The new Patent Public Search […]

By:  Mehdi Sheikerz, Partner The USPTO has implemented a new pilot program, starting from February 1, 2022 and ending on July 30, 2022, to evaluate the effect of permitting applicants to defer responding to subject matter eligibility (SME) rejections in certain patent applications. The Deferred Subject Matter Eligibility Response (DSMER) […]