american bar association 28 th annual ip law conference james donald smith chief administrative...
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American Bar Association28th Annual IP Law Conference
James Donald Smith
Chief Administrative Patent Judge
Patent Trial and Appeal Board
04/04/2013
Hiring
• Since October 2011– Reviewed nearly 1,500 applicant records– Interviewed nearly 240 candidates– Selected 85 highly qualified candidates to become new
Judges– We stand at 170 Judges as of March 25, 2013.
• Opportunities at Detroit/Denver/Dallas/Silicon Valley Satellite Offices– Selecting candidates from previous postings now– New advertisements have been posted
• Goal for FY2013 - add 60 judges.
Board Hiring
• Selectees have come from the following:– USPTO Patent Examining Corps, Office of
the General Counsel, and the PTAB– International Trade Commission and
Department of Justice– Private Practice (solo to very large)– All types of industries
Board Hiring
Administrative Patent Judge(Biotechnology, Chemical, Mechanical, Communication, Computer, Electrical)
• Announcement Number: PTAB-2013-0006• Questions about this job:
– Isis ThomasPhone: 571-272-4363Email: [email protected]
• Announcement set to close on Friday, April 19, 2013.
Members of the Board
1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 1990 2000 2010 2012 2013 Goal
0
50
100
150
200
250
Judges
Board Backlog
• Growth of the Backlog has been halted:– Overall, for the last 5 months, more decisions issued than
new appeals received– Encouraging (for now)
• Benefiting from numerous factors– Successful hiring in FY2012 that needs to continue in
FY2013– Somewhat lower end-of-year intake for FY2012 and
beginning of FY2013– Extraordinary efforts by current Judges
• Trend can still be reversed if ex parte appeal intake and AIA intake grow faster than new hires
Board Backlog
7/5/
2012
8/5/
2012
9/5/
2012
10/5
/201
2
10/1
6/20
12
10/2
3/20
12
10/3
0/20
12
11/6
/201
2
11/1
3/20
12
11/2
0/20
12
11/2
7/20
12
12/0
4/20
12
12/1
1/20
12
12/1
8/20
12
12/2
5/20
12
01/0
1/20
13
01/0
8/20
13
01/1
5/20
13
01/2
2/20
13
01/2
9/20
13
02/0
5/20
13
02/1
2/20
13
02/1
9/20
13
02/2
6/20
13
03/0
5/20
13
03/1
2/20
13
03/1
9/20
13
03/2
6/20
13
04/0
2/20
13
25,400
25,600
25,800
26,000
26,200
26,400
26,600
26,800
27,000
27,200
27,400
26,80726,83226,858
26,702
27,029
27,12627,105
26,915
27,05127,02326,950
26,734
26,89426,859
26,734
26,644
26,78626,82826,82526,807
26,664
26,85426,86926,896
26,618
26,80226,802
26,476
26,014
PTAB Receipts and DispositionsPast Month
PTAB Receipts and Dispositions
Period: 03/02/2013 thru 04/02/2013
Discipline # Cases Received # Cases Disposed Difference (Disposed minus Received)
Biotech 45 38 -7
Business Methods 62 99 37
Chemical 124 209 85
Contested Cases 19 20 1
Design 3 3 0
Electrical 338 490 152
Mechanical 169 387 218
***Totals*** 760 1246 486
PTAB Receipts and DispositionsWeekly: 01/09/2013 through 04/03/2013
1/9/2013 1/16/2013 1/23/2013 1/30/2013 2/6/2013 2/13/2013 2/20/2013 2/27/2013 3/6/2013 3/13/2013 3/20/2013 3/27/2013 4/3/2013 Average
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1600
774 797
727
956
1098 11141084
1136
949
10481007
773 760
940883
832
710
882
1099 11191077
1206
1053 1065
1213
1347
1246
1056
109
35
-17-74
1 5
-7
70104
17
206
574
486
116
Receipts & Dispositions Summary Report FY2013
Received Disposed Difference
Monthly Receipts and Dispositions – New Judge Comparison
May-12 Jun-12 Jul-12 Aug-12 Sep-12-200
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
961 982 9881062
817834796
741791
891
110150
186235 235
-17 -36 -61 -36
309
Receipts
Experienced Judges
New Judges
Difference
Monthly Receipts and Dispositions – New Judge Comparison
Oct-12 Nov-12 Dec-12 Jan-13 Feb-13 Mar-13-400
-200
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200 1116
841803
1031 1023
664575
659 624
717675
797
260310 292
366 359424
-281
128 11352
11
557 Receipts
Experienced Judges
New Judges
Difference
Decisions by Type: FY2013
54%
14%
29%
0%
1%
2%
Decisions
AffirmedAffirmed-in-PartReversedPanel RemandAdministrative RemandDismissed
Decisions Adopting Persuasive Arguments Made in the Record
• Allow the Board to issue decisions based on arguments presented by Examiners or Appellants– Shorter decisions; disposed sooner;
sometimes designated “Per Curiam”• Arguments of record must sufficiently explain
the decision• Working with the offices of the Under-Secretary
and Solicitor, the rules were finalized
“Per Curiam” Short Decisionsas of 02/20/2013
21
6
142
47
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
FY2010 FY2011 FY2012 FY2013 (to date)
Per Curiam Decisions
Outcomes at the Federal Circuit
FY2012 FY2013 (to 04/02/2013) Total
Affirmances 67 28 95
Reversals 4 1 5
Remands 10 4 14
Dismissals 12 10 22
Total 93 43 136
Technology Breakdowns of AIA Petitions
TechnologyNumber of Petitions Percentage
Electrical/Computer 140 67.6%
Mechanical 26 12.6%
Chemical 29 14.0%
Bio/Pharma 11 5.3%
Design 1 0.5%
As of April 1, 2013, the Office received a Total of 207 AIA Petitions: 17 CBMs and 190 IPRs
Institutions: 11 CBMs and 34 IPRsTerminations (resulted from settlements): 4 IPRs
17
Post Grant Resources
• General information concerning implementation of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, including post grant reviews, may be found at:
http://www.uspto.gov/aia_implementation/index.jsp
• Information concerning the Board and specific trial procedures may be found at:
http://www.uspto.gov/ip/boards/bpai/index.jsp
Patent Corps Collaboration
• Continuing to explore collaboration opportunities
• Additional Examiner interviews during prosecution
• Additional Examiner review of after-final amendments before coming to the Board
(on-going)
Published Opinions
• Committee established to increase designation of precedential and informative decisions
• Also will post informative orders from AIA proceedings
• Looking at optimizing manner of posting on site
Detroit, Michigan
Elijah J. McCoy United States Patent and Trademark Office
300 River Place SouthSuit 2900
Detroit, Michigan 48207
Opened July 13, 2012
12 Administrative Patent Judges
Denver, Colorado
Denver Federal Center
B20/D1000W 6th Ave & Kipling Street Lakewood, Colorado 80225
Opened January 2, 2013
5 Administrative Patent Judges
Dallas, Texas
Santa Fe Building
1114 Commerce StreetSuite 705
Dallas, TX 75202
Opened March 18, 2013
4 Administrative Patent Judges
Menlo Park, California
????
345 Middlefield RoadMenlo Park, CA 94025
Opening April 15, 20136 Administrative Patent JudgesAnd Director Michelle K. Lee