Sign up now for ePCT webinars

Hello folks.  Finally after many months of my talking about it, I have scheduled the first few ePCT webinars.   Here are the first few:

  • Thursday, March 2, 2023, 10AM Mountain Time.  Intro to ePCT, why ePCT is important, getting a user ID and password, setting up 2FA.
  • Thursday, March 9, 2023, 10AM Mountain Time. Why attorneys need to learn about ePCT, why you cannot simply delegate stuff to support staff.
  • Thursday, March 16, 2023, 10AM Mountain Time.  Making sure your US priority documents are available to DAS, best practices for filing US priority documents, Certificates of Availability, setting up alerts.
  • Thursday, March 23, 2023, 11AM Mountain Time.  Handshakes, eOwners, eEditors, eViewers, access rights groups, employee first day of work, employee last day of work.
  • Thursday, March 30, 2023, 10AM Mountain Time.  Shared address books, collaborative workflow, sharing with clients, sharing with outside counsel.
  • Tuesday, April 4, 2023, 10AM Mountain Time.  Getting to know your ePCT workbench, portfolios, office profiles, cloning, ePCT actions.
  • Thursday, April 13, 2023, 10AM Mountain Time.  Getting pending PCT applications into your workbench, going back to January 1, 2009, archiving old applications.
  • Thursday, April 20, 2023, 10AM Mountain Time.  Filing a new US PCT application in RO/US using ePCT.

For more information, or to register, click here.

How many have watched the recordings of the 2022 Schwegman lectures?

It will be recalled that in February and March of 2022, thanks to sponsorship of the Schwegman firm, many hundreds of people all around the world were able to attend my lectures about the Patent Cooperation Treaty.  This was a remarkable series of fifteen lectures spread over about six weeks.

The lectures got recorded and the recordings got posted, along with the slides.  This meant that anybody who had missed the live lectures could watch the lectures later, free of charge.  This meant that this generous gift of the Schwegman firm to the world patent community was a gift that kept on giving.   (One place where you can see the recordings and slides is here.)  You might wonder how many have watched the recorded lectures.  Here are some statistics on that.    Continue reading “How many have watched the recordings of the 2022 Schwegman lectures?”

How to get the “+Request PCT Link” button

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I posted a few days ago (blog article) that the EPO had set up a way for users of ISA/EP and IPEA/EP to receive correspondence (such as International Search Reports and Written Opinions) instantly and electronically, which might for some users be preferable to having to wait a long time for such correspondence to show up in slow postal mail.  In that posting I described my own lack of success in setting up such things, particularly because an important button called “+Request PCT Link” was missing in the EPO system.  I have heard back from the EPO people about this.  It turns out you have to ask for this button.  In today’s blog article I offer more information about this new system, that I have heard from the EPO people.  Continue reading “How to get the “+Request PCT Link” button”

EPO’s new system for PCT applicants to receive ISR/WOs electronically

(Update:  there is news about how to get the elusive “+Request PCT Link” button — see blog article.)

(Update:  EPO people have provided a summary page about how to do this ISA/EP and IPEA/EP stuff, that is linked here and that I have archived here.)

PCT applicants who are located outside of Europe, and who pick ISA/EP as their ISA, have for some years now faced a frustrating situation:  ISA/EP only sends out its communications by postal mail, not electronically.   A couple of days ago I attended a webinar presented by four nice people at the EPO, in which they explained how their new system will work that will permit applicants to receive International Search Reports and Written Opinions (and other ISA communications) electronically instead of on paper.  This article briefly summarizes my notes from that webinar.  Continue reading “EPO’s new system for PCT applicants to receive ISR/WOs electronically”

Sign up for tomorrow’s EPO webinar on PCT

(Update:  the webinar took place and I have written an article about it.)

Well, folks, maybe you knew about this imminent webinar a long time ago, but somehow I only learned about it today.  You know how you hate it that EPO only sends ISR/WOs out by postal mail?  Not electronically?  Well, I gather EPO intends to drag itself into the previous decade and plans to provide some electronic way to receive your ISR/WOs.

Yes, an extremely important webinar will take place about 24 hours from now.  Yes, I am giving you a mere 24 hours’ advance notice on this one.  Sorry about that.  Continue reading “Sign up for tomorrow’s EPO webinar on PCT”

Getting a prompt Filing Receipt in a 371 case?

In the community of US practitioners who regularly enter the US national phase from a PCT application, it is a well-known problem that it takes an unreasonably long time for the USPTO to mail out a Filing Receipt.  There is, I am sorry to say, a dirty little secret way to get prompt filing receipt in such cases.  Normally I do not make use of it, but just now I plan to use it in one of my cases.  Continue reading “Getting a prompt Filing Receipt in a 371 case?”

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 (November 6, 2022), 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.