DKPTO to Reclassify U.S. Patents

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Danish Patent and Trademark Office (DKPTO) have signed an agreement to begin a four-month trial in August 2006 on reclassification of certain USPTO documents.

Under the terms of the agreement, the DKPTO (right) will reclassify U.S. patents and published patent applications according to new classifications developed either by the USPTO or by the USPTO in collaboration with the European and Japan Patent Offices in several areas of technology. The new classifications are refinements of portions of the current U.S. classification system and are intended to help USPTO examiners more easily locate documents relevant to the state of the prior art during examination.

The DKPTO's other "Contract Partners" already include Iceland, Singapore, Turkey, and the UK. Check out their Seminar on US Patent Practice and Seminar on US Patent Infringement and Litigation.