Appeals After Patent Office Final Rejection
A patent examiner’s final rejections of patent claims may be appealed to the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences (BPAI). Appeals require payment of substantial fees to the Patent Office, and time and effort will be invested in briefing (usually required unless avoided by an early and favorable pre-appeal decision) and oral argument (if requested by applicant).
Appeals to the Board share some of the elements of a response to an office action, while in other respects such appeals are similar to Federal Circuit appeals. Patent law, 35 U.S.C. §146, permits an applicant to appeal from a final decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences to a federal district court and/or the Federal Circuit.
Most appeals from the Board are taken directly to the Federal Circuit, but in some cases, especially those in which an evidentiary hearing (which may include expert testimony and demonstration) is desired, an appeal to the district court may be preferable (from which decision a further appeal can be taken to the Federal Circuit).
The patent attorneys of Beem Patent Law Firm are well-equipped to make the procedural and strategic decisions and to act as advocates on behalf of patent applicants in appeals to the Board (BPAI), federal district court, the Federal Circuit, and the Supreme Court.
