BREAKING: USPTO Unveils New Rules On AIA Review Responses, Sanctions

By Ryan Davis

Law360, New York (March 31, 2016, 2:28 PM ET) -- The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office finalized a set of new America Invents Act review rules Thursday that will take effect in 30 days, allowing patent owners to give more robust responses to review petitions and establishing sanctions for inadequate prefiling investigations.

The office’s 71-page Federal Register notice largely adopts rules the USPTO had proposed in August and addresses the many comments the office received about the proposal.

The new rules will allow patent owners to include expert declarations and other testimonial evidence in their response...