Patent Office Proposes Rule Requiring Lawyers for Foreign Filers

The US Patent and Trademark Office is launching a proposed rulemaking to require foreign patent applicants to use a registered practitioner, which it said would bring US standards more in line with rules in other countries.

Requiring foreign filers to use a licensed attorney will increase efficiency by reducing the number of pro se applications and improve the ability to respond to false certifications and fraud, the agency wrote in a notice of proposed rulemaking set to publish in the Federal Register Dec. 29.

Pro se applications require more time from patent examiners and negatively impact pendency, the PTO said. ...