Patent Law

• Bruce Pokras recently made available his "Family-izer 2.4.1" web version. The free web-based software uses the EPO's INPADOC patent family database to group a list of patents into "families." This becomes quite helpful when looking at a portfolio of patents. Although the program runs on a web-browser, you will still need to download a small program to make it work. It took me about 3 minutes to get going.
• The USPTO FY2009 Annual Report provides the following numbers as of September 30, 2009:
• • Total Number of Pending Non-Provisional Utility Patent Applications: 1,139,344.
  • Percent that have Not Received a First Action from an Examiner: 53.4%

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