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The Patent and Trademark Office’s Refusal to Follow In Re Bond

July 1, 1992 by in General


The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) announced its official decision to ignore Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit precedent requiring it to apply the last paragraph of 35 U.S.C. §112 to patentability determinations of means-plus-function claims. This paper briefly explores the legal legitimacy of the PTO’s decisions and briefly analyzes the implications of the PTO’s decision for patent practitioners.