Today, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced its most recent revision of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). This revision accounts for new case law and updated procedures through October 2019.

The rapidly-developing topic of patent subject matter eligibility receives some attention in these updates. Additional topics range widely, including obviousness, reexamination claim construction standards, amino acid or nucleic acid sequence list requirements, requirements for powers of attorney, 2019 revisions to the Patent Cooperation Treaty rules, patent term adjustment, and patent term extension. The USPTO has provided a chapter-by-chapter list of updated topics in the new revision.