Cancer Pilot Program Extended
To accelerate innovation in the health and medical fields, the USPTO published a Federal Register Notice announcing a further extension of its Cancer Immunotherapy Pilot Program. Petitions requesting participation in the pilot program that are compliant with the program’s requirements and are filed on or before Sept. 30, 2022, will be accepted.
The USPTO first implemented the program on June 29, 2016, in support of the White House’s National Cancer Moonshot initiative, which sought to accelerate cancer research. It permits patent applications pertaining to cancer immunotherapy to be advanced out of turn for examination and reviewed earlier (granted special status).
To date, over 835 petitions requesting participation have been filed, and 615 patents have been granted under the pilot. Various stakeholders from around the world—including independent inventors, universities, research institutions, hospitals, medical centers, government agencies, and large and small companies—have filed petitions to participate in the pilot program.
For more information, please see uspto.gov/patents/initiatives/patent-application-initiatives/patents-4-patients.
Trademarks Toolkit
How does a trademark differ from a copyright or patent? What are the criteria and steps for getting one? This is among the information provided in the Trademark Basics Registration Toolkit.
The toolkit covers six subjects: learning the essentials; understanding the process; preparing to file your application; filing your application; moving through the process; and keeping your application alive.
The toolkit is available at uspto.gov/sites/default/files/documents/TM-Registration-Toolkit.pdf and also accessible via uspto.gov/trademarks/basics/online-tools.
