Alerts

Patent Office Issues "Interim Guidelines" Applicable to the Examination of Business Method Patent Applications

October 28, 2005

On the heels of the Board's decision in Ex parte Lundgren (http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/dcom/bpai/prec/2003-2088.pdf), the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued "Interim Guidelines for Examination of Patent Applications for Patent Subject Matter Eligibility" (the "Interim Guidelines"). The Interim Guidelines methodically take the examiner through the steps to be followed in examining patent applications for statutory subject matter. Although the Interim Guidelines will guide the examination of all patent applications on the question of eligible subject matter, they are especially salient to patent applications covering business methods.