District Court holds filing of Request for Continued Examination does not reduce patent term adjustment

On November 1, 2012, the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a decision in Exelixis v. Kappos (Case No. 1:12cv96), rejecting the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO's) interpretation of the statute which provides patentees with additional patent term to compensate for delays in prosecution caused by the USPTO.  If upheld, this decision could result in extensions of patent term for many patentees where a request for continued examination was filed during prosecution and the USPTO has taken more than three years to issue a patent.

For more information, download the attached PDF.