In my blog article of October 12, 2022, I discussed the imminent shortened three-month response periods that will face trademark applicants starting on December 1, 2022. Toward the end of the article I described what I saw as two “gotchas”, namely ways that an applicant could end up with an abandoned trademark application if the applicant were to choose to try to tough it out and hold back from paying the $125 extension-of-time fee. Alert reader Michael Brown points out that depending upon the level of kind-heartedness in your Examining Attorney, you might not end up running afoul of the “gotchas”. Continue reading “Exploring the “gotchas” in the imminent shortened three-month trademark response period”
Daylight saving time and WIPO
Keep in mind that Switzerland will turn off daylight saving time today, October 30, 2022. Those who are filing documents at the International Bureau — documents that need a same-day filing date — should check to make sure they know what time it is in Switzerland as of today.
For US filers, keep in mind that the US will not turn off DST today. The US will turn off DST a week from now, on November 6, 2022.
US filers who are getting ready to file a document at the IB should thus pay close attention during this next week to what time it is in Switzerland.
Most readers of my blog will appreciate that the correct terminology is not “Daylight Savings Time” but “Daylight Saving Time”.
The practical effect for most US filers is that for the next week, you get an extra hour to e-file. For example if you are in the Mountain Time Zone, normally you rush to file by 4PM if need a same-day filing date at the IB. But for the next week you can file as late as 5PM and you will still get a same-day filing date at the IB.
A recently issued patent that will expire 51 years after its filing date
A US patent that issued recently (August 9, 2022) made me smile for several reasons. This is a truly remarkable patent, as I will discuss. Continue reading “A recently issued patent that will expire 51 years after its filing date”
December 3 will be the day — three months for trademark responses to Office actions
Yes, folks, Saturday, December 3, 2022 will be the day. Starting December 3, you will only get three months to respond to a USPTO trademark Office Action instead of the usual six months. This article hopefully answers some of your questions about this change. Continue reading “December 3 will be the day — three months for trademark responses to Office actions”
Pacer users to get fees refunded
Hello folks. I am astonished to see the news (see court document) that a court case that had been grinding its way through the courts on for more than five years is apparently very close to being settled. The result of the settlement will, it seems, lead to many people and firms that have paid fees to the Pacer system will get a lot of their fees refunded to them. Our firm has paid many thousands of dollars to the Pacer system over the years. I am sure many other firms can say the same.
I heard about this from alert listserv member Curtis Prescott (Linkedin page). Thank you Curtis!
Two letters that were sent today to Director Vidal
(Update: on January 6, 2023, the Director indirectly responded to these two letters. You can read about it here.)
Hello readers. You will recall that a few days ago I urged you to consider signing two letters to USPTO’s Director Kathi Vidal (blog posting, October 7). Both letters have now been signed and have been sent to Director Vidal.
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- One of the letters is about erroneous information in official Filing Receipts regarding publication dates. You can see the signed letter here.
- The other letter is about missing information in official Filing Receipts regarding whether or not a Foreign Filing License has been granted. You can see the signed letter here.
The chief person who made these letters possible is Krista Jacobsen, a patent practitioner in Silicon Valley. She drafted the letters and finalized them with suggestions from professional colleagues. Many practitioners signed the letters. Today she sent them to the Director. I hope readers will join me in being grateful to Krista for this work.
Of course what also made the letters possible is the many patent practitioners who signed the letters.
Let’s hope that Director Vidal will respond to Krista with good news of corrective steps that the USPTO will take to address the problems that are highlighted in the two letters.
Please sign two letters to the Director
Hello folks. Would you prefer it if the USPTO were to reduce how many mistakes it makes in official patent Filing Receipts? Then please review and sign the following two letters:
- Krista Jacobsen’s letter about publication date errors in filing receipts has by now thirteen signatures. The signers have collectively received over six thousand filing receipts in the past ten years, and have collectively paid over ten million dollars to the USPTO in the past ten years.
- Krista Jacobsen’s letter about missing FFL information has by now ten signatures. The signers have collectively received over five thousand filing receipts in the past ten years, and have collectively paid over seven million dollars to the USPTO in the past ten years.
These letters will close for signature this next Monday at noon Eastern Time. I have signed both letters. Why don’t you join those signers, by signing these two letters yourself?
Carl
CCS charging with a Tesla car
Hello loyal readers. Here is a 4700-word article that I wrote about CCS charging of Tesla cars.