Administrative Conference Receives More Than 65 Public Comments for Small Claims Patent Court Study

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Harry M. Seidman
202.480.2085
hseidman@acus.gov

Administrative Conference Receives More Than 65 Public Comments for Small Claims Patent Court Study

Washington, D.C., August 30, 2022 — The Administrative Conference of the United States (ACUS) has received more than 65 public comments in response to its request for information on issues associated with and options for designing a small claims patent court.

The request, published on ACUS’s website on April 28 and in the Federal Register on May 3, welcomed members of the public to share their views, information, and data on all aspects of a potential small claims patent court or small claims patent proceedings and its impact. The deadline for submitting comments was August 26.

The request is part of an independent study that ACUS is conducting for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. A bipartisan group of six senators on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property requested that USPTO engage ACUS to study whether and how a small claims patent court could be established with input by all stakeholders.

“ACUS appreciates the valuable input that stakeholders provided in response to our request for information,” said Andrew Fois, ACUS’s Chair. “We are carefully considering all comments, which will inform this important study and the report we ultimately deliver to USPTO.”

The ACUS Office of the Chairman will submit its final report to USPTO in 2023. USPTO will submit the report to the members of Congress who requested it.

ACUS is aware that some commenters experienced technical problems when attempting to submit comments through the acus.gov website. In response, ACUS extended the public comment period through August 29 to ensure all interested persons had an opportunity to share their views. Additionally, ACUS will continue to accept comments submitted to info@acus.gov through Friday, September 2.

About ACUS

The Administrative Conference of the United States is an independent federal agency within the executive branch dedicated to improving administrative processes through consensus-driven applied research and providing nonpartisan expert advice and recommendations for federal agency procedures. Its membership is composed of senior federal officials, academics, and other experts from the private sector. Except for the Chairman, all Conference Members are unpaid.

Since 1968, ACUS has issued hundreds of recommendations, published reports and reference guides, and organized forums to improve the efficiency, adequacy, and fairness of administrative processes such as rulemaking and adjudication. Many have resulted in reforms by federal agencies, the President, Congress, and the Judicial Conference of the United States. Learn more at www.acus.gov.

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