2012 Issue

74 applications, and may sometimes snipe against the submissions of their competitors. The new rules obviously make the trip through the Patent Office more difficult for the patent applicant. However, even after the pat- ent application issues, the possibility of ambush still exists. The new patent reform act creates a new post-grant review (PGR) process in which a challenger can file an objection to the issuance of a patent within nine months after the patent was issued. This attack can be based on any reason the Patent Officemight be willing to consider before cancelling one or more of the issued patent claims. The new PGR process supplements the traditional re-examination process that the Patent Office offered previously. Under re-exam- ination, a party has been able to, and will continue to be able to, request that the Patent Office reconsider allowed patent claims based on the submission of documentary evidence that the claims do not meet the requirements of being new and inventive. For the first nine months after issuance, however, it will be possible to attack a patent application on broader grounds than just novelty. Let the Action Begin As all movie-goers know, part of the fun at the movies is watching the trailers or previews for exciting flicks that we will be enjoying in the future. Agoodmovie often leaves us wantingmore and longing for the action of a sequel. In that spirit, the new patent reform act certainly holds out the promise of excitement to come. We can expect races, chases, dogfights and ambushes. And you thought patent law was boring.  BLOCKBUSTER | continued from page 73 Steven L. Nichols is the head of the Intellectual Property Practice Group at Van Cott, Bagley, Cornwall & McCarthy, P.C. He has been involved with all aspects of intellectual property and eCommerce law since 1994. He has served as a patent examiner, registered patent attorney and law school professor. Mr. Nichols has published articles and presented on eCommerce and intellectual property topics in Paris, Tokyo and throughout the United States. Mr. Nichols can be reached at 801.532.3333.