MPEP Section 1720, Dissemination of Court and Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences Decisions

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 1720 ("Dissemination of Court and Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences Decisions ") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Eighth Revision (July 2010). This page was last updated in January 2011. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.

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1720 Dissemination of Court and Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences Decisions [R-3]

I.    COURT DECISIONS

The Office of the Solicitor forwards to the Office of the Commissioner for Patents copies of all recent court decisions in patent cases where a precedential opinion is issued. The Office of the Commissioner for Patents will routinely forward these opinions to TC Directors, the **>Office of Patent Training<, and the Director of the Office of Patent Quality Assurance.

TC Directors, in turn, are to make copies available to supervisors and other individuals as the TC Director determines to be appropriate. TC Directors are encouraged to discuss the contents of the opinions in their staff meetings, particularly where such meetings are being held to reinforce examination quality.

II.    BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS AND INTERFERENCES DECISIONS

A decision rendered by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (Board) is returned to the examiner through the TC Director and the examiner's supervisor. The examiner takes action consistent with the decision rendered by the Board unless rehearing of the Board decision will be requested ( MPEP § 1214.04). The TC Director may circulate and discuss the decision among some or all of the supervisors in the TC, and the supervisors, in turn, may circulate the decision among the examiners in their art units, depending on the subject matter or issues in the decisions.