Monthly Archives: December 2018

Another reason why I am glad we use VOIP.MS telephone service

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At our firm we use VOIP.MS for our outbound telephone service and for most of our inbound telephone service.  VOIP.MS is one of the several companies these days that makes it easy to dump the traditional landline telephone services and make use of voice over IP.  As I have discussed in previous blog articles, it is astonishing how much money one can save and it is astonishing what powerful features can be implemented in one’s telephone system, using voice over IP.  There are a bunch of reasons why we felt good about having selected VOIP.MS for most of our voice over IP services.

But today’s blog article talks about a new and different reason why we feel good about having selected VOIP.MS.  They noticed that someone in the Gaza strip had snuck into our PBX and had placed several telephone calls to mobile phones in Albania.  They proactively shut off the international calling on the trunk that had been passing these calls, and they dropped an email to us letting us know.  This was at 9AM on a Sunday.   Continue reading →

The smart consumer will consider using GoodRX.com

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A few months ago I needed to get a prescription filled, and my doctor said “you might want to consider using GoodRX.com“.  My doctor suggested that when I got to the pharmacy, I should pull out my smart phone, open a web browser, visit the web site GoodRX.com, type in the name of the drug, and show the screen to the pharmacist.

I followed the doctor’s suggestion and I was astonished at what happened next.  The list price for the drug (thank goodness I only needed it once, for a problem that thankfully was not very serious and thankfully went away promptly!) was slightly over $100.  With my health insurance it was around $70.  Using the information on the screen of my smart phone, the price dropped to $20.  I paid the $20, took the drug, the problem went away, and I realized I had better blog about GoodRX.

So what’s the deal?  Is it a scam?  Does it always work?  Is it somehow illegal?  Is there some catch?  When a person gets this price reduction, are they somehow paying for this by revealing private information to Facebook or something? Continue reading →

Today is the day – USPTO pulls the plug on PDX with respect to Korean patent office

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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.