Posts Tagged: "examiner interviews"

The “interview” during the patent prosecution process is a meeting typically held between a patent examiner and the applicant’s representative (i.e., a patent practitioner). In some cases, the inventor, assignee, or a subject matter expert may also be present. During my time as a United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent examiner, I would almost always encourage scheduling an interview with applicant’s representative to discuss the merits. Curiously, many patent practitioners are not proactive in initiating an interview with the examiner. Why is an interview so important? When and how should it be held? How does an applicant’s representative conduct an effective interview?

In Part I of this series we discussed how patent portfolio managers should be careful when generating company-owned prior art or reviewing competitor prior art, and how a patent litigation or licensing campaign can be significantly hamstrung based on how the United States and Europe consider intervening prior art. In Part II, we examined software patents with U.S. and European Patent (EP) family members. Part III builds on Parts I and II and focuses on the value of examiner interviews in the U.S. and Europe.

That feeling that you are a fraud and that, one day, people will find out you have no idea what you are doing has a name—Impostor Syndrome. It is common among young attorneys and inexperienced patent professionals and can strike when you get that first job, during law school, or during conversations with supervisors. One particular situation where imposter syndrome can be especially prevalent for patent prosecutors is interviews with patent examiners. Imposter syndrome can make you feel like you are not qualified to represent your client or that you don’t deserve your accomplishments. It is estimated that at least 70% of successful people have experienced Impostor Syndrome.