The USPTO announced a proposed partnership with the software community to enhance the quality of software-related patents. The USPTO will hold two roundtable events and has requested public comments on this topic.
The USPTO issued a request for comments announcing the Software Partnership, a cooperative effort with the software community to enhance the quality of software-related patents. The USPTO will hold February roundtable events in Silicon Valley and New York City. The three initial topics for discussion and comment are:
How to improve clarity of claim boundaries that define the scope of patent protection for claims that use functional language.
Proposed future discussion topics.
Oral comments on the USPTO's upcoming Request for Comments on Preparation of Patent Applications for any topics that particularly pertain to software-related patents.
Written comments on the first two topics should be e-mailed to [email protected] by March 15, 2013. The upcoming Request for Comments will include instructions for comments on the third.
The notice also includes registration instructions for the roundtables.