USPTO IDS and Markush Claim Proposals Will Not Proceed

According to AIPLA Reports on October 27, 2008,

"The PTO’s proposed rules on information disclosure statements and on applications
containing "Markush" alternative claim language will not be published as final rules by the current Administration. The announcement was made October 24, 2008 at the AIPLA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C. by PTO Deputy Commissioner for Patent Operations Margaret Focarino in an appearance before the AIPLA Committee on Patent-Relations with the USPTO."

She reportedly made reference to May 9, 2008 Office of Management and Budget memorandum to all federal agencies stating that “regulations to be finalized in this Administration should be proposed no later than June 1, 2008, and final regulations should be issued no later than November 1, 2008.” Nonetheless, it appears that the new Appeal Brief rules will still take effect on December 10, 2008.

"The major difference between the IDS/Markush versus Appeal Brief rules package is that the former group only relates to proposed rules while the latter group relates to already finally promulgated rules," adds Professor Wegner. "To the extent that [the] valiant effort to kill the Appeal Brief rules is unsuccessful with the present Administration, efforts will surely be made with a new Obama (or McCain) Administration to alter this most draconian set of rules."