Price of Business Show contributors Gordon Arnold and Chrales Knobloch are reporting the following from the US Patent and Trademark Office:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has been busy, and last week announced changes to some of it’s patent programs that you should be aware of. 

Under the USPTO Project Exchange program, a small entity that had patents on file prior to October 1, 2009 that were unexamined, could abandon a prior patent application in exchange for expediting another unexamined patent application that was also filed prior to October 1, 2009. Now, any entity (regardless of size) can participate in this program, for up to fifteen applications through December 31, 2010.

Additionally, the USPTO has expanded its acceleration pilot program that we announced to you back in December, 2009.  Under  this program, a patent applicant can file a petition to receive special status for pending applications in “green” technologies limited to specific classifications set by the USPTO.  This limitation to specific classifications,  which has resulted in a large number of petition denials, has now been removed.  This pilot program is limited to the first 3000 granted petitions.

If you wish to discuss the effect of these developments regarding any of your patents or applications, please contact us. There website is http://www.usptclaw.com/.

ARNOLD & KNOBLOCH, L.L.P. — Houston, Texas — is a full-service intellectual property law firm that provides comprehensive legal strategies to clients regarding patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition and other intellectual property issues.  Arnold & Knobloch services clients from Fortune 100 to small mid-market companies as well as in-house counsel, other lawyers and law firms, inventors, artists and writers.  Serving clients both domestically and internationally, Arnold & Knobloch offers strategic solutions that give clients business advantage and protection as they navigate a landscape crowded with competitors.