In a recent development, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has chosen to update its approach towards patents formulated under the provisions of the America Invents Act (AIA). Director Kathi Vidal announced on Wednesday a new precedent implying that these post-AIA patents are no longer tied to a particular Federal Circuit ruling concerning the correlation between priority applications and subsequent applications during prior art analysis.
The directive chiefly pertains to a Federal Circuit ruling dating back to 2015, which elaborated on the connection between priority applications and follow-up proceedings in the examination of prior art. However, this fresh precedent means that post-AIA patents will no longer be in the ambit of the aforementioned ruling in their scrutiny.
The upshot of this shift in approach is that the USPTO is effectively avoiding a ruling that could otherwise pose certain complications during the review of post-AIA patents. Future consequences and ripple effects of this change remain to be seen as it unfolds in the complex and fast-evolving arena of patent law.
Further details regarding this new directive and its potential consequences are available in the complete version of the story, as reported by Law360.