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<b>BREAKING NEWS:</b> Patent Rules Put on Hold by VA Judge

By Zusha Elinson
November 01, 2007

Patent lawyers started breathing again on Oct. 31, as the specter of new patent rules was chased away ' at least for a little while ' by a Virginia court.

U.S. District Judge James Cacheris granted pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline's motion for a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from implementing rules set to go into effect on Nov. 1.

The new rules would reduce the number of claims, which help define a patent, and the number of continuations, which are used to amend patent claims and contest those that are rejected. Claims would be limited to 25, and continuations to just three. The current rules imposed no limits.

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