Number: RL34422
Title: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Reforms: Regulatory Impacts Upon Innovation and Competition
Authors: John R. Thomas, Resources, Science, and Industry Division 
Abstract: This report reviews the USPTO rules that would restrict claims and continuing applications. It begins by offering a summary of the patent system and the role of patents in innovation policy. The context, details, and legal challenges to the new USPTO rules are then explained. The report then offers both the policy justifications for the new rules, as well as concerns that patent professionals and other observers have expressed over their effectiveness and impact. The report closes by identifying congressional issues and options.
Pages: 19
Date: April 4, 2008