The US Patent Office’s recent proposed rule to eliminate senior leadership’s involvement in administrative tribunal decisions before they’re issued is the latest move in a significant effort to increase transparency after years of criticism that officials were manipulating judge panels.
The proposal would codify interim procedures in place since last year that govern the circulation and review of decisions by judges at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, which hears challenges to patents’ validity and appeals of patent examiners’ determinations. The effort builds new public guardrails around patent judges’ decisions, more clearly isolating them from the office’s politically appointed leadership …
