Ingresar
Making Procedures More Efficient and Effective For Innovators
By Ferraiuoli LLC
Beginning July 24, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has updated procedures for the interim Director Review (DR) of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decisions.
Updates to the interim DR process include:
Expanding the process to permit parties to request DR of PTAB decisions on institution in America Invents Act (AIA) proceedings; Providing updated guidance as to what types of issues the Director will consider in DR, as well as additional guidance on various topics, such as the initiation of DR at the sole discretion of the Director (sua sponte DR), remands to PTAB for further proceedings, and sanction authority of the Director; Providing the Director the option to delegate review to a new independent panel called the Delegated Rehearing Panel (DRP); and Creating a new Appeals Review Panel (ARP), which may be convened by the Director sua sponte, to review PTAB ex parte, reexamination, or reissue appeal decisions.
In light of these revisions, PTAB processes have been updated to reflect the retirement of the Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) process.
“With these changes, we are enhancing and streamlining the Director Review and related processes, thereby making our procedures more efficient and effective for America’s innovators,” said Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Kathi Vidal.
Ferraiuoli LLC
Ferraiuoli LLC (FLLC) was founded in 2003 by the late Blas Ferraiuoli-Martínez, Eugenio Torres-Oyola and María Marchand-Sánchez. This group was then joined in 2004 by Fernando J. Rovira-Rullán, thus forming the founding core of FLLC. FLLC has grown exponentially since its founding from a law firm with three attorneys and a support staff of three to its current size of 54 attorneys with a support staff of 38. Also, FLLC has grown from initially being known as an intellectual property and corporate law boutique law firm to a multiservice law firm that handles most matters relevant to a business while continuing to earn praise for its leading intellectual property and corporate practices.
FLLC has been ranked as a leading law firm in Puerto Rico by the professional publication Chambers Latin America in intellectual property, corporate, bankruptcy, labor & employment, real estate, and tax law. Moreover, 17 FLLC partners have been ranked as leaders in their field by the same publication. 4 FLLC partners are ranked as leaders in Intellectual Property, no other firm has more than 2. This recognition in such a short period of time is a tribute to FLLC’s business model.
FLLC prides itself in doing its work faster and more cost-efficiently yet with the same quality as that of its main competitors. The founding name partners are available at all times to attend to client matters. Their work ethic sets the tone for the rest of the firm. FLLC’s founders’ goal has been steady from the outset: become one of the premier multiservice law firms in Puerto Rico.