Readers will recall my previous post about big delays in the Assignment Branch at the USPTO. As I reported in that post, we had e-filed an Assignment for recordation on October 10, 2016 and even after some weeks the Assignment Branch had not gotten around to giving us the all-important reel and frame number. We had placed a followup call on October 27 reaching a nice fellow who told us that there was a backlog. We placed another followup call on November 7 reaching a nice woman who said yes there was still a backlog. On that day I posted the above-mentioned blog article and one reader posted a comment that she was able to top me. She had e-filed an Assignment on October 6 that had not been recorded as of November 7. Another reader posted a comment that he was able to top both of us, with an Assignment that he had e-filed on September 15 and that the Assignment Branch had not recorded as of November 7.
Anyway now there is news. Today, November 15, USPTO has mailed a Notice of Recordation for this Assignment that we e-filed on October 10. It took the Assignment Branch 36 days to get around to recording this Assignment.
I have ran into that problem myself. I was waiting on an Assignment Recordation to file TD’s and we were very close to the deadline. I called the Assignment Branch and requested that they push it through and I received the recordation the next day.
Wow when I called they refused to push mine through. Next time we get stuck, I will call you up and ask you to call them for me! 🙂
I finally received the notice of recordation this morning for the Assignment filed on October 6…
That is all very strange. At our firm, we filed an assignment on November 15. The notice of recordation arrived the next day, on November 16, as usual.
That is all very strange. At our firm, we filed an assignment on November 15. The notice of recordation arrived the next day, on November 16, as usual. I wonder if the USPTO has implemented a first in last out (FILO) stack for assignment processing instead of a more common sense first in first out (FIFO) one. Another possibility is that the assignments that are processed slowly somehow have a unique feature that single them out for careful examination by a more specialized/senior staff member.