Month: May 2023

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A second false statement on the USPTO web site

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(Update June 20, 2023 — the false statement has returned to the USPTO web site — see blog article.)

Yesterday I reported (blog article) on a first false statement on the USPTO web site.  Here is a second false statement that appeared on the USPTO web site as recently as two days ago (screen shot above):

The USPTO strongly recommends submitting Specification, Claims, and/or Abstract in DOCX format which provides better data accuracy.

Continue reading “A second false statement on the USPTO web site”

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A first false statement on the USPTO web site

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Here is a false statement from the Patentcenter web site of the USPTO (screen shot above right):

Patent Center has 100% of the functionality of EFS-Web, Public and Private PAIR, and is available to all users for electronic filing and management of patent applications.

This false statement on the Patentcenter web site has been reported to the USPTO as EBC ticket number 1-831173674.  This is Patentcenter trouble ticket number CP141 (click here to see it).

On the Patentcenter Trouble Ticket page, we list dozens of reasons why this statement is false.  Here are just a few of them …  Continue reading “A first false statement on the USPTO web site”

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Proper etiquette for Tesla EV charging

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Test your mastery of Tesla EV charging etiquette with this quick quiz.  If you arrive at a Tesla supercharging station and three of six charging ports are already in use, as shown in this diagram, where is the polite place for you to plug in?  Should you choose the place that is shown as “park here”?  The correct answer might not be what you think.  Continue reading “Proper etiquette for Tesla EV charging”

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Being on Route 66

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Route 66 is one of the most famous roads in the US.  It originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). Established in 1926, by 1938 it became the first highway in the US to be paved along its entire length.  Continue reading “Being on Route 66”

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A pilgrimage to Path 27

As many readers know, nearly all electrical power transmission lines are three-phase AC (alternating current).  When you look up at one of the towers, you see three (or a multiple of three) transmission conductors.  In the US there are are only a few direct-current (DC) transmission lines.  One of them is called Path 27.  I first read about Path 27 about seventeen years ago, when I was writing the patent application that became US patent number 8183714.  Recently I was able to do something that I had wanted to do for a very long time — I visited one of the massive ground electrodes for Path 27.  Continue reading “A pilgrimage to Path 27”

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Supercharging station with lots of plugs

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This photo shows a charging station in Baker, California.  At left are twelve Electrify America supercharging spots.  At right are forty Tesla charging spots.  Behind this is a construction area where there will soon be fifty more Tesla charging spots.  All of these charging spots are shaded by canopies made of, you guessed it, photovoltaic solar panels.  The Tesla charging station also has battery storage.  Continue reading “Supercharging station with lots of plugs”

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Terrifying Tales of the USPTO’s DOCX Filing System – the movie!

On May 3, 2023, I urged you (blog article) to attend a webinar presented by two partners in the Fitch Even law firm, entitled Terrifying Tales of the USPTO’s DOCX Filing System.  Hopefully you attended that webinar.

But if you missed the live webinar, the good news is that Terrifying Tales of the USPTO’s DOCX Filing System is now available as a recording.  To view the recording, click here.

You can also view recordings (click here) of my two recent webinars on the malpractice risks associated with use of the USPTO’s DOCX e-filing system.

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A nice person at the EBC

Folks, I am reminded that there are bright and alert and nice people in the world.

I encountered a problem in Patentcenter recently.  (For reasons that will become clear, in this posting I am going to avoid discussing the particular problem in detail.)  I posted the problem in https://patentcenter-tickets.oppedahl.com/ as usual, giving it a new patentcenter trouble ticket number starting with “CP”.    This was one of those trouble reports where a screen shot is part of explaining what the problem is that is being reported. Continue reading “A nice person at the EBC”

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An open letter to Director Vidal and Commissioner Udupa about DOCX

Here is a letter that I sent today to the Director and the Commissioner:

Hello Director Vidal and Commissioner Udupa and Deputy Commissioner Seidel:

By now there have been many webinars scheduled and presented that are intended to help the patent community understand the risks of filing US patent applications using the USPTO’s DOCX initiative.  These include:

        • Patent Center DOCX Filing: What you Need to Know, March 10, 2023, Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of Microsoft Word, April 18, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of non-Microsoft word processors, April 18, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of Microsoft Word, May 10, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of non-Microsoft word processors, May 12, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Terrifying Tales of the USPTO’s DOCX Filing System, May 23, 2023, Fitch Even

You can see the May 10 recording here (1:29 in length) and you can download the presentation materials here.

I invite you and request you to let me know if you think there were any factual inaccuracies in the May 10 webinar.  If there were any inaccuracies in that webinar, I will publish corrections.

Carl Oppedahl

Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC

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Who would find these four webinars to be of interest?

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(Update:  now you can sign up for the four webinars! )

At this link you can see a plan for four webinars.  The goal is to cover the PCT forms that PCT applicants and agents receive most often.  Each webinar will be 90 minutes in length.  The goal is to cover the forms listed and discussed in Oppedahl on PCT Forms and PCT Docketing, shown at right.

The question is, would anybody actually want to attend these four webinars?  That’s what I would like to know.  I invite people to post a comment below.