USPTO Withdraws Controversial Rules

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has announced that it will withdraw controversial new rules regarding claiming and continuation applications that have been the subject of a court challenge. Two court challenges were brought by independent inventor Dr. Tafas and by pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline, which were consolidated as Tafas v. Kappos. The case is currently pending appeal before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.