USPTO to Host Governmental "Exploration" of Patent Harmonization

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will host an "exploratory" meeting February 3-4, 2005 at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, to discuss the current state of substantive patent law harmonization and possible approaches for moving harmonization forward. Among those invited to participate in the USPTO meeting are representatives from Canada, Australia, Japan, the European Commission, the European Patent Office and the Member States of the European Patent Convention. The meeting will be limited to government representatives only.

“Harmonization promises to bring substantial benefits, including uniform patent examination, reduced patent office workloads, and enhanced patent quality. The sooner we can agree on a basic framework, the sooner we can begin providing these benefits to patent applicants, patent offices and the public alike,� said Jon Dudas, U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property.