Interview Practice

The following is a collection of policies, procedures, training, and guidance on effective interview practice.

The USPTO encourages examiners to take a proactive approach to examination by reaching out and engaging our stakeholders in an effort to resolve issues and shorten prosecution. The training and guidance below emphasize interviews as a tool that can create an open dialog with Applicants and enhance the quality and efficiency of examination.

• Director’s Forum:  David Kappos’ Public Blog
• Interview Best Practices Whitepaper on examiner-practitioner interview best practice [PDF]- The collaborative effort between AIPLA and the USPTO identifies interview best practices that can be followed by examiners and practitioners.  The Best Practices paper identifies accessibility, preparation, substance, and recordation as some of the useful tools and techniques that allow interviews to be used to proactively resolve issues and move applications towards resolution.
• MPEP Chapter 700 - 713 Interviews
• MPEP Chapter 700-713 Interviews [Searchable MPEP]  
• Application Initiated Interview Request form [PDF]
• Recent Examination Guidance and Training Materials
• Effective Interview Practice Training Summary [PDF] -  The document summarizes effective interview practice training disseminated to the patent corps in FY2009. The training addressed why interviews are an important examination tool, identified a number of key components needed to conduct an effective interview and discussed some frequently asked questions regarding interview topics such as, handling interview requests, potential interview topics, interview sequence, grant/denial of an interview, what to do if the attorney is not of record and documentation of interviews.
• First Action Interview Pilot Program [PPT]
• MPEP Chapter 500 - 502.03 Communication via Internet (e.g., e-mail)
• MPEP Chapter 500-502.03 Communication via Internet (e.g., e-mail) [Searchable MPEP]
• Web Conferencing and Virtual Interviews

 

 

 

 

 

>> Some contents linked to on this page require a plug-in for PDF and  PPT files.