Related Posts
Best movie ever?
Looking for SAP BRIM books/notes
Bowl Leader
How much annual hike in OneTrust?
Additional Posts in Patent Prosecution
New to Fishbowl?
Download the Fishbowl app to
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
unlock all discussions on Fishbowl.
Get a general POA signed by the client (just one signed form), but yes, you need to file it individually in each application. YMMV as to whether the PTO will accept a general POA without a cover sheet or other transmittal form, which would need to be specific to a given application.
Make sure the Applicant name on the general POA matches the assignee/applicant of record EXACTLY (punctuation and abbreviations and all) or the PTO LIEs will more than likely kick it back. (e.g., they won’t accept a POA for “Apple” in an application assigned to “Apple Inc.”)
Having done this a couple times for portfolios of 100+ applications, I can tell you that it is indeed a huge pain to do at scale. Get your paralegal to line everything up to streamline your review, like placing a printout of PAIR app data with the to-be-signed transmittal so you don’t have to look it up for each app.
I usually have my assistant file it in each case, and I don’t supervise that. She keeps an excel spreadsheet that tracks her progress and checks off when each is accepted.
I am unaware of an easier way. It’s an annoying and tedious task.
This is pretty much the only way. There are myriad reasons why, so if you understand the underlying patent case law, it will make sense. But if you don't, it certainly does seem frustrating and tedious.
Because inventors vary from app to app, which impacts the assignment and POA calculiq. The PTO can't just ignore that, since every "owner" has to sign off on infringement litigation. To allow prosecution of property whose title is in question undermines the assumption of validity that patent holders are due by virtue of having survived the prosecution process.