In April 2016, the PTO launched its Post Grant Outcomes Pilot, an initiative to inform Examiners of relevant PTAB proceedings regarding patents related to an application (e.g., a continuation, divisional, continuation-in-part) that they are currently examining. Participants in the pilot program received email notifications of important filings in relevant PTAB cases including petitions, institution decisions, and expert declarations. The pilot program tracked how often art from the PTAB cases was used in the related application examinations.
The survey showed that Examiners found the PTAB information to be helpful, referencing art originating from the PTAB trial 46% of the time. Additional findings from the pilot program are discussed here, with detailed statistics being accessible here.
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