American Inventor's Protection Act of 1999

The American Inventors Protection Act was enacted November 29, 1999, as Public Law 106-113 and amended by the Intellectual Property and High Technology Technical Amendments Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-273) enacted November 2, 2002. The material presented on this web site reflects this enacted law.

The contents of the AIPA web site are organized as follows:

Laws, Consolidated Patent [PDF]	Contains the most recent revisions to the Laws.
Rules, Consolidated Patent [PDF]	Contains the most recent revisions to the Rules.
Legislation	Text of Public Law 107-273 (116 Stat. 1757-1922) IP Provisions; Extracted pages 143 through 165 [PDF] (signed into law 11/02/02; posted 6/2/03)  Text of section 1000(a)(9), Division B, of Public Law 106-113, pages 83-182 [PDF]
Recent Notices (Federal Register & Official Gazette)	Recent patent-related notices including "Examination Guidelines for 35 U.S.C. § 102(e), as amended by the AIPA, and further amended by the Intellectual Property and High Technology Technical Amendments Act of 2002"; "Claiming the Benefit of a Prior-Filed Application under 35 U.S.C. §§ 119(e), 120, 121, and 365(c)"; "Reminder that Rescission of a Nonpublication Request is Not Itself a Notice of Foreign Filing"; and "Proposed Changes To Implement the 2002 Inter Partes Reexamination and Other Technical Amendments to the Patent Statute." Notice of Erroneous Early Release of Patent Application Information on November 11, 2010  [PDF]  Notice of Erroneous Posting of Application Information on September 1, 2005 [PDF]
Presentations: Slideset(s) & Chart(s)	Training slides, charts and other resources are provided to assist in understanding the changes to the laws and the rules in view of the AIPA and the High Technology Technical Amendments Act of 2002.
USPTO Forms	USPTO forms web page, wherein many of the forms have been modified due to the implementation of the AIPA and the PBG-Final Rule .
Q&A's	Relevant information and posted Questions and Answers.
Resources	Includes the PBG and AIPA Training and Implementation Guide; Changes to Title 35 enacted 1/18/2000; Articles on AIPA; and Concept of Operations.

 

Under the AIPA, while the Department of Commerce provides policy direction, the USPTO has independent responsibility for its management and operations, including personnel decisions, procurements, and other management and administrative functions.  While legally, the USPTO maintains a great deal of discretion over its budgetary and operational decision-making, the Department is an active partner.  To assist the Department in its policy oversight role, the USPTO provides timely information on a regular basis, and actively participates in Departmental activities.  The following list reflects understandings of the Office of the Secretary and the USPTO as to the implementation of Secretarial policy direction pursuant to 35 U.S.C.§1.

U.S. Department of Commerce Policy Oversight of the United States Patent and Trademark Office

 

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