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| PCT Application examinations |
SHP |
November 19, 2007 11:34 am |
So, last week I'm talking to this guy and his resume says ABC Law Group, and he tells me that the PTO send PCT applications to ABC for examination. ABC does the search and pays him and his fellow travellers to write up the IPERs, which are then sent back to the PTO. In other words, the PTO is outsourcing the examination of PCT applications. The kicker is when I asked him if ABC was providing any training in PCT regulations, patentability standards, and whatnot. No, they just hired him because he had a technical background and had been an inventor on a few US applications.
This was the first inkling I had that these reports are being done by untrained nonexaminers who may have no clue what the law regarding novelty and obviousness/inventive step is (insert gratuitous comment about recent USPTO examiner performance HERE). These reports are the basis on which the examiners in many nonUS countries rely (and form the basis for the stance of the US examiner who handles the case from that point forward).
Has this been going on for years, and I've been clueless? Anyone else hear anything about this?
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