Still more must-read for ST26 enthusiasts

Hello dear readers.  In recent days I published two blog articles (July 15, 2022 and July 15, 2022) that are must-read articles for anybody who has filed any patent application on or after July 1, 2022 containing a sequence listing.  If you have filed any patent application (PCT or non-PCT) on or after July 1, 2022 that contains a sequence listing, and if you have not read those two blog articles, you should read them.  After that, you should return to this article and read this article.  This article has more information from nice people at WIPO about the ST26 issues that I raised in those articles. 

The nice folks at WIPO remind me that everybody who is an ST26 enthusiast should sign up for WIPO Sequence Updates.  To sign up, click here.  The reason you should sign up for WIPO Sequence Updates is that you can hear from WIPO about new releases of the WIPO Sequence software, and you can hear from WIPO about other ST26-related issues.  

As of right now, the version of WIPO Sequence that you can get from the WIPO web site is version 2.1.1.  If you are presently using a version that is older than 2.1.1, you should without a doubt download and install version 2.1.1.  Although version 2.1.1 does not fix the “missing feature table” problem, it does fix other things.  There is just no doubt about it, if you are not yet using version 2.1.1 you should start using version 2.1.1.

As a general matter, the nice folks at WIPO remind me, you should always be using whichever version of WIPO Sequence is the current version.

WIPO is working on a next version which will be called version 2.1.2 which is intended to fix the “missing feature table” problem.  How can you learn about it when that version gets released?  Hopefully you are already subscribed to WIPO Sequence Updates as mentioned above.  If not, you should subscribe.  That will be one way to find out.  Another way is to subscribe to this blog if you have not already done so.  Yet another way is to subscribe to the ST26 listserv if you have not already done so.

The nice folks at WIPO remind me that the WIPO Sequence software has an auto-update feature that looks for new versions.  For this to work, you need to make sure that the computer that is running the WIPO Sequence software is connected to the internet when you run it.   A further thing to check is that any firewall on your network is not blocking the WIPO Sequence software from checking with the WIPO web site about this.   If the WIPO Sequence software detects a new version being available, it will invite you to do the update.  If this happens, please do take the time to permit the automatic update to take place.  The user manual for the WIPO Sequence software has a section that discusses this auto-update function.

Summarizing:

• Go back and check (validate) every sequence listing that you included in every patent application (PCT or non-PCT) that you have filed on or after July 1, 2022.   If you find any sequence listing that flunks validation (because of this “missing feature table” problem or any other reason), get to work figuring out what to do about it.  
• See what version of WIPO Sequence you are using.  If it is not the most current version (as of today, version 2.1.1), upgrade it right now without delay.
• Subscribe to WIPO Sequence Updates as mentioned above.
• Subscribe to the ST26 listserv.
• Subscribe to this blog.