PTAAARMIGAN is committed to act (not just jawbone) on behalf of intellectual property
attorneys, agents and owners, and on behalf of IP-owning clients. We focus on issues where
the
substantive or procedural law provides protections on behalf of PTAAARMIGAN’s
constituency, and a federal agency acts in contravention of that law.
Current action items for patent attorneys, agents, and applicants:
- Curb invalidly-promulgated rules governing PTAB trials.
- Repeal of the PTO’s DOCX rule. Assist the PTO in developing a reliable (PDF-based)
implementation.
- Permanent repeal of the PTO’s current CLE rule (which, in fall 2021, is delayed, but
neither validly promulgated nor dead); assist the PTO in developing a replacement that
serves everyone’s interest, not just the PTO’s.
- Assist the PTO in conforming its software, forms, guidance etc. to its regulations. For
example, the PTO’s software should not produce auto-generated ADS’ that the PTO’s
intake clerks won’t accept. The PTO’s forms should help examiners properly treat after
final responses, not unlawfully refuse entry.
Current action items for trademark attorneys and applicants:
- Repeal of the invalidly-promulgated obligation to disclose the actual street address of
the
applicant (“where you sleep at night”), even when the applicant is a U.S. natural person
represented by counsel—the PTO should tailor its rules to the underlying public interest
and statutory authorization.
- Repeal of the invalidly-promulgated obligation to add attorney bar information to every
submission, when the PTO hasn’t done the technical work to make it easy.
Current action items for both the trademark and patent communities:
- Assist the PTO in avoiding secret rules (for example, the PTO’s secret rules for
permissible signature titles on Powers of Attorney. Or the explosion of abusive
restriction requirements—is that a policy set by higher-ups, or the product of
inadequate
supervision?)
- Curb fee-setting at levels higher than permitted by statute, and for unauthorized
purposes.
- Curb unlawful use of the MPEP, TMEP, and other guidance documents—the procedural
requirements of rulemaking are important to the public interest. Unpredictability of
guidance documents and web sites that change without proper notice is unlawful.
- Assist the PTO in developing and following rulemaking procedure, with full
consideration of public interest, serious cost-benefit analysis, and proper
consideration of
economic impact on small entities.
- Advocate for competent and basic commercial standards for software—PatentCenter,
TSDR, and TESS and their support ought to be up to commercial standards of user
interface, quality, reliability, bug reporting and tracking, and support.
- Freedom of Information Act requests, and articles in the IP press, to educate the
patent
and trademark bar on actual PTO practice—and exposure of situations in which agency
practice violates the law.
- PTAAARMIGAN will seek to be in the circle of consultation for proposed rulemaking.
The PTO is required to do so by statute (44 U.S.C. § 3506(c)(2)(A)); existing
organizations haven’t insisted that the PTO honor this obligation.
PTAARMIGAN LLC is a § 501(c)(4) tax exempt social welfare organization. It is funded and
operated exclusively by contributions of volunteers from among its membership. Members of
PTAAARMIGAN’s Executive Committee include David Boundy, Pamela Chestek, and Daniel
Feigelson.
