Bob Stoll Quoted in Law360 on Recent USPTO Patent Eligibility Memo

Bob Stoll, partner and co-chair of the Intellectual Property Group in Washington, D.C., was quoted in the Law360 article “USPTO Patent Eligibility Memo Will Boost Odds For Applicants.” The article discusses a recent memo from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that sets new criteria for when examiners can reject patent applications for claiming patent-ineligible material. This memo will likely make it difficult for examiners to find that a claimed invention is patent-ineligible under Section 101 of the Patent Act.

Experts view the memo as the first action in USPTO Director Andrei Iancu’s initiative to make patent law more stable and predictable. Bob said, “This is a great first step to fixing the problems with 101 at the PTO…I’m impressed that Director Iancu went forward with it. More needs to be done, but it’s a good start.”

Bob also emphasized the importance of Iancu’s aim to issue “forward-looking guidance” about patent eligibility through future memos and said, “I hope he provides more examples of what is eligible and won’t wait for the case law to determine it.”

Read “USPTO Patent Eligibility Memo Will Boost Odds For Applicants.”