The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced that on August 21, it will publish the much-anticipated rule changes relating to patent claims and continuations. According to the USPTO’s announcement:
The new rules have been modified, relative to the rules that were originally proposed early last year, in response to the extensive comments the USPTO received from the public. Under the new rules, applicants may file two new continuing applications and one request for continued examination as a matter of right. Also, under the new rules, each application may contain up to 25 claims, with no more than five of them independent claims, without any additional effort on the part of the applicant. Beyond these thresholds, however, the new rules require applicants to show why an additional continuation is necessary or to provide supplementary information relevant to the claimed invention to present additional claims.
UPDATE:
The USPTO will hold a special webinar on Thursday, August 23, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. (EST) to review the new rules. To register, click: https://uspto-ls.webex.com/uspto-ls/onstage/g.php?d=664144307&t=a
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