The Patent and Trademark Office announced October 8, 2009, that it will rescind the claiming and continuations rules package that have been the subject of litigation in Tafas v. Kappos.  The parties to that litigation have agreed to request the Federal Circuit to dismiss the appeal in that case and to vacate the district court decision below.

“AIPLA applauds the decision of Director Kappos to rescind this hugely unpopular rules package,” stated AIPLA’s Executive Director Todd Dickinson. “And we certainly hope the courts will act quickly and favorably on this motion. We view this as a significant step by Director Kappos towards rebuilding the relationship between the USPTO and the user community. Hopefully, we can now continue to move forward and work with the Director in a constructive way to address the challenges facing the USPTO.”