1. As Lee Ness has pointed out, the patent application could be directed to a
technology that was judged to be important to the security of the United States.
Patent applications are screened for information that might be dangerous if it
fell into the hands of potential adversaries of the USA and some of them, in
areas like weapons technology or intelligence gathering, are prevented from
issuing until any danger is deemed to be gone (usually because the patented
technology is already obsolete or has fallen into the public domain).
2. The claims were rejected on grounds that the applicant felt were incorrect,
an appeal was filed, and the the examiner, Board of Patent Appeals and
Interferences, and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit bounced it back and
forth until the applicant finally persuaded the PTO or the court that the patent
should issue. Occasionally the applicant even appeals to the Supreme Court,
which slows things down even more, though the Supreme Court doesn't accept many
patent cases.
3. There was another application or issued patent claiming the same invention,
and an interference was declared. Under the previous rules for interferences
(the ones in effect during the '70s and '80s), the rules allowed for long, long
periods for filing evidence and arguments. Newer interferences are settled
faster.
4. More than one of the above.
Edlyn Simmons
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From: "Jill Ann Hurst" <jahurst@delphi.com> on 11/16/99 11:21 PM
Please respond to jahurst@delphi.com
To: piug-l@derwent.tecc.co.uk
cc: (bcc: Edlyn Simmons-ES/PGI)
Subject: 1972 patent granted in 1999
As of the end of September 1999, six patents granted this year were filed
in the 1970s and 42 patents granted this year were filed in the 1980s. One
patent granted in September was filed in 1972. What can cause delays like
this?
Jill
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Jill Ann Hurst Editor, ipFrontline
Tel: 716-388-0881 jahurst@delphi.com
Fax: 716-388-9849 http://www.ip.com
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