Let’s remind ourselves how the five biggest Offices for industrial design protection (called “ID5”) are coming along in terms of participation in the DAS system. It is recalled that the DAS system permits the exchange and retrieval of electronic certified copies of priority documents. So which Offices are trendy, modern, and up-to-date? Which of the ID5 Offices have not yet joined DAS for designs? Continue reading
Category Archives: Industrial Designs
Please USPTO no more foot-dragging on retrieving certified copies from DAS
The other day I taught another webinar about PDX and DAS. And the usual gripe about the USPTO came up — why does USPTO actively age the DAS retrieval attempts? Why doesn’t USPTO simply suck it up and carry out the retrieval of an electronic certified copy when asked to do so?
I blogged about this in 2014, urging the USPTO stop the aging of such requests. Now in 2019 the USPTO continues its policy of aging the retrieval attempts. So now, dear reader, you are treated to another rant. Continue reading
Setting up a tripwire for new filings in EFS-Web and Patentcenter
In this posting I will talk about three things — a feature that USPTO ought to implement in EFS-Web and in Patentcenter alpha — and a reminder of the existence of the Ideascale system which USPTO has set up for receiving suggestions — and a thanks to a member of the patent community who used Ideascale to offer up the feature that I am now going to write about.
The feature is, USPTO ought to set it up in EFS-Web and in Patentcenter so that it is possible to set up tripwires. By tripwire I mean a function so that in an automatic way, any new filing of a document by a filer would get communicated to some particular pre-established email address. Continue reading
Design Day 2019
I have it on good authority that Design Day 2019 will take place on Thursday, April 25. This will be at the USPTO in Alexandria, Virginia.
So save the date!
USPTO will be closed Monday January 14, 2019
The USPTO will be closed on Monday, January 14, 2019 because of a dusting of snow. (OPM announcement.)
The small amount of snow giving rise to this closure would not even be noticed in other parts of the US such as the high altitudes of Colorado where Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC is located. (Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC will be open as usual on Monday, January 14, 2019.)
The closing of the USPTO means that any response that would be due on Monday, January 14, 2019 will be considered timely if it is filed by Tuesday, January 15, 2019.
WIPO DAS portal now functions for US designs
click to enlarge
I am delighted to be able to report that the WIPO DAS portal now functions as it should for US designs.
This raises many questions, which I will try to answer:
- What do you mean it “now functions”? Did it not function before?
- As a design practitioner in the US, should I perhaps be a bit embarrassed that I had not noticed that it was not functioning before?
- As a design practitioner outside the US, should I perhaps be a bit embarrassed that I had not noticed that it was not functioning before?
- Okay I give up. What exactly is the WIPO DAS portal, what is its connection with US designs, and why do I need to know about it?
Finally, what is there about this WIPO DAS portal that would protect me, as a practitioner in an Office of Second Filing, from a risk of professional liability due to a lost priority claim due to failure to timely provide a certified copy? Yes, I call this “the single most important point in this blog article“. If you would like to eliminate this particular category of risk to yourself when handling such filings, then scroll down to the place in the article where I discuss this.
Today is the day – USPTO pulls the plug on PDX with respect to Korean patent office
As I blogged here, today is the day that USPTO has pulled the plug on PDX in connection with KIPO (the Korean patent office).
For US design filers whose cases claim priority from Korean cases, this is welcome news. Simply use Form PTO/SB/38 to ask USPTO to retrieve your electronic certified copy from the KIPO. Be sure to include the DAS access code provided to you by Korean counsel.
For any US case claiming priority from a Korean utility or design application, the Best Practice nowadays is to set up an “alert” in DAS for the application, and to obtain a Certificate of Availability in DAS for that application, all the while checking that US is listed among the Offices to which the application is available.
Can you pass the DAS quiz?
Now what remains is for USPTO to do the same (pulling the plug) for the PDX relationship with EPO.
Starting now, when you as US counsel send instructions to Korean counsel to file utility or design cases claiming priority from your US cases, be sure to pass along the DAS access code (which is the PAIR confirmation code). Also set up an “alert” in DAS for the US priority application, and also send a Certificate of Availability to Korean counsel.
Starting now, when Korean counsel sends instructions to you to file utility or design cases in the US that are claiming priority from Korean cases, Korean counsel should pass along the DAS access code. Korean counsel should also send a Certificate of Availability to you.
Date is set for USPTO to pull the plug on PDX for Korean patent office
I am delighted to learn that a date has been set for the USPTO to pull the plug on PDX for the connection between the USPTO and the Korean Intellectual Property Office.
As I blogged here, the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO) recently became a Depositing Office in DAS for purposes of design applications. This was of course welcome news but it did not help US filers, because:
- until now USPTO and KIPO have had an available connection through PDX, and
- PDX does not support designs, although DAS does, and
- PDX trumps DAS, meaning that between any two Offices, if there is a DAS connection, it will not get used so long as there is a PDX connection.
USPTO has announced that the plug will get pulled on PDX on December 1, 2018.
For US design filers whose cases claim priority from Korean cases, this is welcome news. Simply use Form PTO/SB/38 to ask USPTO to retrieve your electronic certified copy from the KIPO. Be sure to include the DAS access code provided to you by Korean counsel.
For any US case claiming priority from a Korean utility or design application, the Best Practice nowadays is to set up an “alert” in DAS for the application, and to obtain a Certificate of Availability in DAS for that application, all the while checking that US is listed among the Offices to which the application is available.
Can you pass the DAS quiz?
Now what remains is for USPTO to do the same (pulling the plug) for the PDX relationship with EPO.
Starting now, when you as US counsel send instructions to Korean counsel to file utility or design cases claiming priority from your US cases, be sure to pass along the DAS access code (which is the PAIR confirmation code). Also set up an “alert” in DAS for the US priority application, and also send a Certificate of Availability to Korean counsel.
Starting now, when Korean counsel sends instructions to you to file utility or design cases in the US that are claiming priority from Korean cases, Korean counsel should pass along the DAS access code. Korean counsel should also send a Certificate of Availability to you.
Today is the day! Canada now belongs to Hague Agreement
Yes, today is the day that the Hague Agreement enters into force in Canada. This is an important development for the Hague system, which is the international filing mechanism for protection of industrial designs.
US filers and filing at WIPO and daylight saving time
Keep in mind that most locations in the US will turn off daylight saving time today, but today is not the day that Switzerland will turn off daylight saving time. (Switzerland turned off DST a week ago.)
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.
The main point here is that for a US filer, everything is now “back to normal”. Whatever time zone offset a US filer is accustomed to between his or her time zone and Geneva, that offset is back to normal.
ePCT will tell you what time it is in Switzerland.