Michele Van Patten Frank was quoted in Law360 on February 23, 2018, about the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revising its Manual of Patent Examining Procedure for the first time in more than two years. The policies around patent-eligibility, the duty to disclose information to the office, and other key patent law issues were added to the guide.
Commenting on the duty to disclose information, Ms. Frank said that despite the somewhat different standards, the takeaway for attorneys should be that "the office is saying, at the end of the day, if the information is relevant to patentability, give it to us."
Frank added that no matter how the standard is defined, the manual emphasizes that the duty of applicants to disclose relevant information is very important: "The patent office is really genuinely looking to clarify this." She continued, "It does demonstrate that overall, there needs to be serious consideration and thought given to what you submit to the patent office."