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    <RIN_INFO>
        <RIN>0651-AB94</RIN>
        <PUBLICATION>
            <PUBLICATION_ID>200710</PUBLICATION_ID>
            <PUBLICATION_TITLE>The Regulatory Plan and the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions</PUBLICATION_TITLE>
        </PUBLICATION>
        <AGENCY>
            <CODE>0651</CODE>
            <NAME>Patent and Trademark Office</NAME>
            <ACRONYM>PTO</ACRONYM>
        </AGENCY>
        <PARENT_AGENCY>
            <CODE>0600</CODE>
            <NAME>Department of Commerce</NAME>
            <ACRONYM>DOC</ACRONYM>
        </PARENT_AGENCY>
        <RULE_TITLE>Changes to Practice for the Examination of Claims in Patent Applications</RULE_TITLE>
        <ABSTRACT><![CDATA[A small but significant minority of applications contain an excessive number of claims, which makes effective examination of such applications problematic.  The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Office) revises the rules of practice to share the burden of examining applications containing an excessive number of claims.  Specifically, the Office amends the rules to provide that if an application contains more than ten independent claims, the applicant must provide a patentability report that covers all of the independent claims in the application.  In addition, the Office amends the rules to provide that the Office will give a separate examination only to those dependent claims expressly elected for separate examination, and that the applicant must provide a patentability report that covers all of the independent claims and elected dependent claims in the application if the number of independent claims plus the number of dependent claims elected for examination is greater than ten.  The changes would allow the Office to apply the patent examining resources currently absorbed by applications that contain an excessive number of claims to the examination of new applications, and thus allow the Office to reduce the backlog of unexamined applications.  This would mean faster more effective examination for the typical applicant without any additional work on the applicant's part, but a small minority of applicants who consume a disproportionate share of agency resources will be required to share the burden they place on the Agency.]]></ABSTRACT>
        <PRIORITY_CATEGORY>Other Significant</PRIORITY_CATEGORY>
        <RIN_STATUS>Previously Published in The Unified Agenda</RIN_STATUS>
        <RULE_STAGE>Long-Term Actions</RULE_STAGE>
        <MAJOR>No</MAJOR>
        <UNFUNDED_MANDATE_LIST>
            <UNFUNDED_MANDATE>No</UNFUNDED_MANDATE>
        </UNFUNDED_MANDATE_LIST>
        <CFR_LIST>
            <CFR>37 CFR  1</CFR>
        </CFR_LIST>
        <LEGAL_AUTHORITY_LIST>
            <LEGAL_AUTHORITY>35 USC 2(b)(2)</LEGAL_AUTHORITY>
        </LEGAL_AUTHORITY_LIST>
        <LEGAL_DLINE_LIST/>
        <RPLAN_ENTRY>No</RPLAN_ENTRY>
        <TIMETABLE_LIST>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>NPRM</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>01/03/2006</TTBL_DATE>
                <FR_CITATION>71 FR 61</FR_CITATION>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>NPRM Comment Period End</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>05/03/2006</TTBL_DATE>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>Final Action</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>08/21/2007</TTBL_DATE>
                <FR_CITATION>72 FR 46716</FR_CITATION>
            </TIMETABLE>
            <TIMETABLE>
                <TTBL_ACTION>Next Action Undetermined</TTBL_ACTION>
                <TTBL_DATE>To Be Determined</TTBL_DATE>
            </TIMETABLE>
        </TIMETABLE_LIST>
        <RFA_REQUIRED>No</RFA_REQUIRED>
        <SMALL_ENTITY_LIST>
            <SMALL_ENTITY>No</SMALL_ENTITY>
        </SMALL_ENTITY_LIST>
        <GOVT_LEVEL_LIST>
            <GOVT_LEVEL>None</GOVT_LEVEL>
        </GOVT_LEVEL_LIST>
        <FEDERALISM>No</FEDERALISM>
        <ENERGY_AFFECTED>No</ENERGY_AFFECTED>
        <PRINT_PAPER>No</PRINT_PAPER>
        <INTERNATIONAL_INTEREST>Not Collected</INTERNATIONAL_INTEREST>
        <RELATED_RIN_LIST>
            <RELATED_RIN>
                <RIN>0651-AB93</RIN>
                <RIN_RELATION>Merged with</RIN_RELATION>
            </RELATED_RIN>
        </RELATED_RIN_LIST>
        <AGENCY_CONTACT_LIST>
            <CONTACT>
                <FIRST_NAME>Robert</FIRST_NAME>
                <LAST_NAME>Bahr</LAST_NAME>
                <MIDDLE_NAME>W.</MIDDLE_NAME>
                <TITLE>Senior Patent Attorney</TITLE>
                <AGENCY>
                    <CODE>0651</CODE>
                    <NAME>Patent and Trademark Office</NAME>
                    <ACRONYM>PTO</ACRONYM>
                </AGENCY>
                <PHONE>571 272-8800</PHONE>
                <EMAIL>robert.bahr@uspto.gov</EMAIL>
                <MAILING_ADDRESS>
                    <STREET_ADDRESS>Mail Stop Comments-Patents, Commissioner for Patents, P. O. Box 1450,</STREET_ADDRESS>
                    <CITY>Alexandria</CITY>
                    <STATE>VA</STATE>
                    <ZIP>22313</ZIP>
                </MAILING_ADDRESS>
            </CONTACT>
        </AGENCY_CONTACT_LIST>
    </RIN_INFO>
</REGINFO_RIN_DATA>
