In its long-awaited opinion, the Supreme Court rejected the Court of Appeals
decision in Bilski v. Kapos that method patents must be either tied to a
particular machine or transform an article from one state to another.  While
the so-called machine or transformation test remains an important analytical
tool for examining method patents, it cannot be used as a [...]

The U.S. Patent Office in partnership with several foreign patent offices
will fast track application examination under the Patent Prosecution Highway
(PPH) program.  Favorably reviewed applications in their countries of first
filing may enter accelerated examination for corresponding foreign claims
upon request.  The U.S. Office is partnered with Australia, Canada, Denmark,
the European Patent Office, Finland, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore [...]

In 2009 patent applicants waited an average 36 months after filing for examination.  Although a few applications can be advanced out of turn, these must either fall into narrow specialized categories, or be filed using the existing expedited examination process.  Many practitioners disfavor the current expedited case system due to its increased prosecution cost, and [...]

LegalZoom has been sued in a Missouri class action for engaging in the unauthorized practice of law.  A marketer of “legal document services,” LegalZoom allows customers to generate legal forms online and download completed forms for filing.  Although the Missouri case is based principally on will and corporation formation, LegalZoom also offers services in the [...]