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To increase efficiency and lower costs, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is updating its process for filing patent applications and documents in DOCX format through Patent Center. When a patent application is being filed in DOCX format through Patent Center, the system will no longer convert the DOCX files into Portable Document Format (PDF) files during the pre-submission process. Instead, documents being filed in DOCX format will be converted directly to Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) during the pre-submission process and applicants may review the TIFF files prior to filing. Applicants will still have the option to download a copy of the documents in PDF after submission.

In this decision, an Appeals Review Panel (ARP) of Director John A. Squires, Chief Judge Kalyan Deshpande, and Acting Deputy Chief Judge Michelle Ankenbrand reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision and reinstated the examiner’s rejection of claims for obviousness-type double patenting (OTDP). The ARP explained the statutory, precedential, and supporting commercial rationales underlying OTDP and determined that the Federal Circuit has recognized an anti-harassment rationale as a legitimate policy justification underpinning the OTDP doctrine, even absent evidence that patent issuance would extend the duration of an applicant’s patent monopoly. The ARP, nonetheless, questioned whether a standalone anti-harassment rationale risks harming innovation and should be ultimately reconsidered by the court. The ARP also proposed a future framework designed to streamline and make more predictable the Office’s handling of OTDP.