Posts Tagged: "oed"

Exclusive Interview: PTO Director Andrei Iancu and OED Director Will Covey on Practitioner Dues, CLE and Unauthorized Practice

The focus of this interview was OED generally, but more specifically why they Office felt it was necessary to begin charging annual dues to practitioners and what those funds would be used for. I indicated leading up to the interview that I would specifically like to discuss the issue of unauthorized practice of law, explaining that I personally was not philosophically opposed to dues but that as a registered patent practitioner myself I would like to see OED do more than just reciprocal discipline, which appears to be the overwhelming portion of their work, at least if you look at the OED Reading Room of published decisions. Director Covey came with statistics and followed up after the interview with the chart included below. While it may appear OED focuses overwhelmingly on reciprocal discipline, that is a tiny fraction of what they do.

Will the USPTO use annual patent practitioner dues to stop the unauthorized practice of law?

It is no secret to anyone in the industry; the unauthorized practice of law is rampant, and OED does nothing to stop it… If charging dues to patent practitioners will allow OED to put an end to the unauthorized practice of law many, if not most, practitioners would undoubtedly support the initiative. If OED plans to continue with a docket full of reciprocal discipline and only enforce ethics rules against registered practitioners, practitioners should loudly protest the imposition of annual dues.

USPTO proposes CLE and bar dues for patent practitioners

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has provided the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) information relating to proposed patent fees in advance of the PPAC meeting on fees scheduled for September 6, 2018. Among the documents released are a spreadsheet detailing various “Patent Enrollment Fees”. Lines 195 through 198 propose the creation of a new fee code relating to the imposition of annual patent bar dues for all patent practitioners, which would range from $240 per year to $410 per year, depending upon whether the dues were paid electronically, and whether the dues were paid with or without a certificate of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) compliance.

USPTO to Update Patent Bar Exam in August 2018

“This is a mere change in form, not substance,” according to John White, principle lecturer in the PLI patent bar review course. “The PTO will start testing the current version of the MPEP, and stop testing the miscellaneous memos and the like that are currently tested. But all of those memos have now been incorporated into the new MPEP, so there’s no change of substance. Just a change in citations.”

Disbarred Patent Attorney Michael I. Kroll Still Practicing, No Comment from PTO

Despite being excluded from the practice of patent law before the USPTO, Kroll is openly continuing his practice. His website Invention.net is still up and running, advertising his services as specializing in patent law and having obtained thousands of patents for inventors. On Monday, April 2, 2018, an e-mail sent to patent@invention.net inquiring about assistance yielded a return e-mail containing advice on the need to quickly file a patent application because the U.S. is not a first to file country… Michael I. Kroll presents a very real challenge to the authority of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and specifically to the Office of Enrollment and Discipline. If the Office is unable to stop Kroll from practicing why exactly should any practitioner concern themselves with OED? Why have any ethical rules?