The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure is a publication of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that contains the laws and regulations applicable to the examination of patent applications. Drew Smith, an IP patent agent at Bruzga & Associates in New York (he just passed the New York bar but has not yet been sworn in), tells me that he got tired of having to navigate his way through the USPTO website to find key patent documents, so he created the MPEP Plus app to collect the key documents in one location. Smith just started programming a few months ago, and he admits that the app is not much more than a collection of PDFs and a patent searching tool, but he thought that the app might be useful to others so he released it to the App Store. He gave me a free copy of the app so that I could check it out.
At the top left of the main screen of the app there is a link to the current version of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (8th Edition, July 2010). Tap to see the full index of the publication, where you can easily to jump to different sections.
The app also contains a patent finder. Simply enter a number (done using cards just to keep it interesting) to pull a patent, or you can even tap the Random button to let serendipity guide you. Here is an example of retrieving Apple's patent on the iPhone "slide to unlock" feature:
The app also includes links to key legal authorities on patents such as Title 37, CFR Chapter 35, some key Supreme Court opinions, etc.
Drew Smith tells me that he is working on an update to MPEP to add some animation. He also plans to add a tool to calculate patent term adjustments, something not currently addressed by any other app.
If patents are a part of your practice, then this inexpensive app may be worth checking out.
Click here to get MPEP Plus ($1.99): 
