The BPAI had a very successful FY 2006.
The average pendency for decided patent appeals continued to be less than
six months. Similarly, the average pendency for interferences remained
below 12 months. Furthermore, the final decisions in over 90 percent of
all interferences were mailed within 24 months. During the course of the
year, the BPAI was restructured to streamline the internal processing
of both patent appeals and interferences. The Board also opened its oral
hearings to the public for the first time. Additionally, the Board’s
e-government initiatives continued to progress. Patent appeals are now
entirely processed electronically. The testing of the fully electronic
interference filing and information system is currently underway. This
automation effort is laying the groundwork for the implementation of the
proposed post-grant review proceedings that are currently planned to be
conducted in the future at the BPAI.
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