Innovation & intellectual property · 30/12/2020

USPTO Proposes Rule Change to Allow Second Patents for Similar Inventions in Joint Research Agreements

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is proposing a rule change that would allow patent applicants and patentees to obtain or enforce a second patent for inventions that are patentably indistinct to a first patent, under certain conditions, particularly when owners of the first and second patents have a joint research agreement.