As reported in GEN, the Federal Circuit court affirmed lower court ruling that PTO errored in interpreting the patent term adjustment (PTA) statute. The result is that many patents could receive extended PTA awards, i.e. extensions to their patent term to compensate for delays in PTO review.
This seemed like a fair ruling to me. It certainly appeared that the PTO method of calculating credit due to a delay in reviews did shortchange the patent holder under some circumstances. The court's interpretation of the PTA statute and remedy makes sense.
Posted by Bruce Lehr Feb 3, 2010
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