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A View Of The Future In Semiconductor Process: Patent Prosecution In Class 438 Under The United States Patent And Trademark Office’S Final Claims And Continuations Rules, Adam R. Stephenson
A View Of The Future In Semiconductor Process: Patent Prosecution In Class 438 Under The United States Patent And Trademark Office’S Final Claims And Continuations Rules, Adam R. Stephenson
Adam Stephenson
While the US patent prosecution process appears carefully defined and heavily regulated, a statistical review of 530 randomly selected issued patents and published patent applications from class 438 (semiconductor process) over a six year period indicates that since the system is run by people, ordinary negotiating norms significantly explain the outcomes observed. The results are driven by interests created within patent examiners by the performance management metrics and systems in place within the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The data indicates that practitioners willing to spend the time to prepare by understanding the average examiner’s interests and to …