Author: Carl

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A rainy-day project – labeling electrical outlets

Here’s a fun rainy-day project for those visiting nieces and nephews – labeling the electrical outlets.  A first person is stationed at the circuit breaker panel.  A second person is roaming the house, carrying a label maker and a lamp.  These people are using walkie-talkies, if needed, or better yet, if they have amateur radio licenses, ham radio handy-talkies.  The lamp is plugged into an outlet and is turned on.  The person at the circuit breaker panel switches off the breakers one by one until it is determined which circuit breaker powers the outlet.  A label is printed and applied to the cover plate of the outlet.  (For example in this case it is breaker number 15.)  The process is repeated until every electrical outlet has been labeled.

For extra credit, a third person can sketch a map of the house and the outlet locations plotted on the map.  The map can then be posted next to the circuit breaker panel.

When the project is finished, everybody can make popcorn and watch a movie.  A fun activity for the entire family!

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USPTO thinks there is such a thing as a “provisional patent”?

I guess probably a dozen times a day I go to the USPTO web site.  I go to the home page, and then I click around until I find what I need (for example Private PAIR).

Now we all know there is no such thing as a “provisional patent”, right?  Yes there is such a think as a “provisional patent application”.  But there is no such thing as a “provisional patent:.

I just now noticed an astonishing thing about the main page of the USPTO.  The home page of the USPTO invites the visitor to search for information on a “provisional patent”.

Continue reading “USPTO thinks there is such a thing as a “provisional patent”?”

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Learning about “wifi calling”

Today’s blog article is a “tech” article and it is a “trademarks” article. The main point of this blog article is that probably you should activate “wifi calling” on your mobile phone, if you have not already done so.

For most mobile telephone customers in the US, wifi calling has only been available for a few months. So a reader of this blog may be forgiven for having failed to activate this service before now.

What is wifi calling? Continue reading “Learning about “wifi calling””

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ISA/RU search fee to increase on May 1

For a US filer who is filing a PCT application and who is picking the Russian patent office, the search fee will increase on May 1, 2017.  The search fee, presently $449, will increase to $482.

If you rank ISAs in order by the size of the search fees, the Russian patent office will still be the least expensive searching authority available to US filers after May 1, just as it is now.

The formal name of the Russian patent office is Federal Service for Intellectual Property but the nickname is Rospatent.  Which gives us an opportunity to brush up on our knowledge Cyrillic.  As you can see in the logo at the upper right, in Cyrillic the “P” is what we English speakers would voice as an “r”.  The “C” is what we would voice as an “s”.  The Π (like a Greek letter π) is what we would voice as a “p”.  And the “H” is what we would voice as an “n”.

Which brings me to a fun old classic mystery movie in which this Cyrillic H played a part.  In the movie, a handkerchief is found with an “H” embroidered on it.  This implicates a person whose name is pronounced starting with an “h”.  But a clever person in the movie realizes that the “H” might be sounded as an “n”, implicating a person with a Russian name.

The first person to post a comment identifying this movie will win a super spiffy digital voltmeter from Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC.

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Opportunities to learn about the Patent Cooperation Treaty

There are quite a few upcoming opportunities to learn about the Patent Cooperation Treaty:

  • March 13, 2017 in San Francisco, California
  • April 5-7, 2017 in Orlando, Florida
  • June 8, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • July 24-25, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia
  • September 21-22, 2017 in Cary, North Carolina

March 13, 2017 in San Francisco, California.  This one-day program is sponsored by WIPO and by the PCT Learning Center.  For more information, or to sign up, click here.

April 5-7, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.  This program is two and a half days long.  The program, entitled Comprehensive PCT Practice, is sponsored by WIPO and by the Patent Resources Group.  For more information, or to sign up, click here.  I will be the presenter for this program.

June 8, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This program, sponsored by WIPO and by the Patent Resources Group, is Patent Administration: A Foundation for Success.  For more information, or to sign up, click here.  I will be the presenter for the one-day PCT class that is part of this program.

July 24-25, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia.  This program is sponsored by WIPO and by the the American Intellectual Property Law Association.  I will be one of the presenters for this program.

September 21-22, 2017 in Cary, North Carolina.  This program is sponsored by WIPO and by the North Carolina Bar Association.  I will be the presenter for this program.

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Jordan joins the PCT

On March 9, Ambassador Saja Majali of Jordan deposited the Instrument of Accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty with the International Bureau of WIPO. This means that the PCT will come into force for Jordan on June 9, 2017.

This brings to 152 the number of member States for the PCT.

The two-letter code for Jordan is “JO”.

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Filing at the International Bureau and Daylight Saving Time

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 (or fax-filing) some document with the International Bureau of WIPO. Continue reading “Filing at the International Bureau and Daylight Saving Time”

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Who is the Director of the USPTO?

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, by statute, any issued US patent or US trademark registration must be “signed by the Director”.   So the question “who is the Director?” is not an idle question.

As of today (screen shot at right), the Department of Commerce web site still lists the position of Director as “vacant”.

Yesterday’s issued US patents and US trademark registrations bore Michelle Lee’s signature, just as on Tuesdays before.

 

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Some PCT search fees will change today

As a reminder some PCT search fees will change today for US PCT filers.

The ISA/EP fee will drop 5.3%, to $1992.  As of today, for the first time in thirty-eight years, this will be cheaper than ISA/US (for large entities).

The ISA/KR fee will drop 5.4%, to $1114.  As before, the real bargain at ISA/KR is the cost of the second through nth inventions will still only cost a couple of hundred dollars each.

The ISA/JP fee will drop 10.7%, to $1372.

The ISA/IL fee will drop 2.8%, to $911.

For a filer that counts the search fee price as a big factor in the selection of searching authority, these fee changes leave roughly unchanged the ranking of searching authorities by cost.

For a filer that uses EFS-Web or ePCT as the mechanism for e-filing of a PCT application, you do not need to worry about accidentally paying the wrong fee, because the e-filing system will automatically quote the correct fee.

There are still many other factors which might influence an applicant’s selection of International Searching Authority, as I summarize here.