NEWS
Obama backs USPTO with hundreds of millions
Te US Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) will attempt to shorten patent pendency and reduce patent backlogs with the additional funding granted by President Barack Obama.
Te USPTO Supplemental Appropriations Act 2010 was signed by the president in early August.
It authorises the USPTO to spend an additional $129 million of the fees the agency will collect during the 2010 financial year. Te USPTO predicts that it will collect approximately $200 million more than the $1.887 billion allocated to it by Congress.
On July 12, President Obama asked Congress to allow the USPTO access to all the fees it would collect during the 2010 financial year. Despite the new allocation, approximately $70 million more in fees will be collected than the USPTO is allowed to spend.
David Kappos, director of the USPTO, said: “Tis additional funding will allow us to continue the progress we’ve made in improving the USPTO and the patent process so that patents can be issued more quickly, investment in new technology and new products will be accelerated, and much-needed jobs will be created.”
Te USPTO recently released a draſt of its Fiscal Year 2010-2015 Strategic Plan for public comment. Te plan outlines the agency’s aims to improve the quality and timeliness of its patents.
It states: “Te USPTO must identify and implement the efficiencies, tools and policies necessary to increase the number of applications it is capable of examining and disposing of (rejection or issuance), while improving quality. Te USPTO has identified a twofold basis to attack the capacity challenge: increase examiner capacity and improve efficiency.”
Lexmark attacks patent infringement on two fronts
Replacement printer cartridges provided by two dozen companies infringe US patents owned by Lexmark International, according to a complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on August 20.
Lexmark filed the patent infringement complaint against 24 respondents based in the US and China.
Te respondents are engaged in the manufacture, importation and sale of replacement cartridges for various Lexmark laser printers and multifunction devices.
Te complaint, in accordance with Section 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, alleges that the replacement
www.worldipreview.com cartridges infringe 15 US patents owned by Lexmark.
It states: “Lexmark seeks as relief a general exclusion order, or alternatively, a limited exclusion order, barring from entry into the United States infringing toner cartridges and/or components thereof.
“Lexmark also seeks as relief, cease and desist orders prohibiting the domestic sale, offer for sale, advertising, packaging, or the solicitation of any sale of toner cartridges and/or components thereof encompassed by the claims of the patents-in-suit.”
Lexmark has also filed a similar patent infringement complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Te August 20 filing is against the same defendants named in the ITC complaint and covers similar Lexmark patents.
Te district court complaint also alleges that Lexmark patents have been infringed by the defendant’s replacement cartridges.
It states: “[T]he [replacement] cartridges [use] the same patented technology that is found in the Lexmark genuine toner cartridges. Defendants have copied Lexmark’s genuine toner cartridges for a particular model and [used] the patents-in- suit that cover the same patented components found in Lexmark’s genuine toner cartridges.”
Lexmark hopes the district court complaint will provide injunctive relief, monetary damages and attorneys’ fees.
World Intellectual Property Review September/October 2010 11
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