USPTO Appeals against Ruling that Its Proposed Rules Exceeded its Rule-Making Power

In our Bulletin of April 3, 2008, we reported on the decision of the district court prohibiting the implementation of rules proposed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) relating to the number of continuation patent applications that could be filed and the number of claims that could be included in an application without taking special steps. The USPTO has now filed an appeal of this decision with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC).