Carl Oppedahl's blog
Hello design patent colleagues. This blog article presents the second of three practice tips for prosecution of US design patent applications. Continue reading “Three design patent practice tips — tip number 2”
Hello design patent colleagues. This blog article presents the first of three practice tips for prosecution of US design patent applications. Continue reading “Three design patent practice tips — tip number 1”
Hello dear readers. It will be recalled that on October 12, 2021, forty-eight design applicants and practitioners signed and sent a letter to Karen Young, Director of Technology Center 2900. (This is the Technology Center that examines design patent applications.) The letter (click here to see it) has four “asks” relating to the the examination of US design patent applications.
Yesterday, the phone rang and it was Director Young! Continue reading “More on the letter from Forty-Eight Design Applicants and Practitioners to Director Karen Young”
It is now possible to register for USPTO’s Design Day 2022. This is the fifteenth annual Design Day and it will take place on Thursday, April 21, 2022. (You will recall that on February 5, 2022 and again on March 2, 2022, (blog article and blog article) I told you to save the date.) This will be a virtual event, not in-person. This event is free of charge. Continue reading “Register now for USPTO’s Design Day 2022”
The Turkish Patent and Trademark Office has announced that it will join the WIPO DAS system, with effect from June 1, 2022. Turkey’s participation will be as a Depositing Office, and the participation will be with respect to every possible type of application, as will be discussed. Continue reading “Turkey joins the DAS system”
One of the dumbest things that you can do when you are naming your intellectual property firm, it turns out, is picking a name that is more than 35 characters in length. If you make this mistake, it means you often can’t get paid.
A related dumb thing is arranging to have a street address that exceeds 35 characters in length. This, too, might mean that you can’t get paid.
It turns out that there is a simple and quick fix for this problem, as I will mention at the end of this blog article.
On March 13 I blogged that US filers filing documents at the International Bureau needed to pay extra close attention to what time it is in Switzerland. The reason is that in the US, Daylight Saving Time happened on March 13. But it did not happen on that day in Switzerland. This meant that for the past two weeks, a US-based filer in (for example) the Mountain Time zone would be able to e-file in the IB as late as 5PM and still get a same-day filing date. This differed from the usual drop-dead time of 4PM.
Today (March 27, 2022) is the day that Daylight Saving Time happens in Switzerland. The consequence of this is that the time difference between the US filer’s time zone and the time at the IB is back to normal. So for a US-based filer in the Mountain Time zone, the drop-dead time returns today to the usual 4PM.
This change affects for example a US-based filer filing a PCT application at the RO/IB, and it affects the US-based filer filing a design application in the IB’s Hague Agreement e-filing system. It also affects the US-based filer filing documents at the IB relating to the Madrid Protocol, such as for example a Subsequent Designation.
Most readers of my blog will appreciate that the correct terminology is not “Daylight Savings Time” but “Daylight Saving Time”.
Many readers will also appreciate that EU has been trying for the past two years to get rid of this clock-changing. There have also been largely feckless efforts in various states of the US to bring an end to this clock-changing. I personally would like it if the place where I am located, and the places where patent and trademark offices are that I care about, would all bring an end to clock-changing.
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when it is important to keep track of the fact that Daylight Saving Time is different in Switzerland from the way it is in the United States. This is important because you might be in the US, and you might be e-filing some document with the International Bureau of WIPO. For the next two weeks (until March 27), the drop-dead time for e-filing a document at the IB is an hour later than usual. Usually, to get a same-day filing date at the IB, an American filer would have to complete the e-filing by 4PM Mountain Time (which is midnight in Geneva). But for the next two weeks, you get an extra hour. You could complete the e-filing by as late as 5PM Mountain Time and it would still be a same-day filing date.
This might affect you because you are e-filing a PCT patent application at RO/IB. This might affect you because you are e-filing a Hague Agreement design application at the IB. This might affect you because you are paying a set of Madrid Protocol renewal fees at the IB. Or maybe you are filing an Article 19 amendment or a Demand at the IB.
Most readers of my blog will appreciate that the correct terminology is not “Daylight Savings Time” but “Daylight Saving Time”.
Many readers will also appreciate that EU has been trying and trying to bring this to an end. There have also been largely feckless efforts in various states of the US to bring an end to this clock-changing. I personally would like it if the place where I am located, and the places where patent and trademark offices are that I care about, would all bring an end to clock-changing.
(Update: Now you can register for Design Day 2022. See blog article.)
You heard it here first! Back on February 5, 2022 I told you (see blog article) to save the date (April 21, 2022) for USPTO Design Day 2022. And now the plans are further developed. Continue reading “Save the date redux! USPTO Design Day 2022”
(Update: you can now register for Design Day 2022. See blog article.)
A date has been tentatively set for USPTO’s Design Day 2022. The date is Thursday, April 21, 2022. Continue reading “Save the date! USPTO Design Day 2022”