Until now, every Office that had become an Accessing Office for designs had previously been an Accessing Office for patents (except Canada). And until now, every Office that had become a Depositing Office for designs had previously been a Depositing Office for patents (except Canada). Continue reading “Canada joins DAS for patents as Accessing Office”
November 11 is a holiday at the USPTO
Monday, November 11, 2019 will be a federal holiday in the District of Columbia. This means the USPTO will be closed. This means that any action that would be due at the USPTO on November 11 will be timely if it is done by Tuesday, November 12, 2019.
e-filing at WIPO — back to normal
For the past week the situation for e-filing at WIPO, for most people in the US, has been that the local time to e-file so as to get a same-day filing date in Switzerland has been different from usual. (The reason for this is that a week ago, people in Switzerland turned their clocks back.) But as of today, people in the US have turned their clocks back. So things are back to normal.
For example if you are in the Mountain time zone, once again as of today you will be counting toward 4PM local time to get a same-day filing date in Switzerland. (For the past week the answer was 5PM.)
why the MyUSPTO check box doesn’t work
(I have posted a followup article.)
Hello readers who are in the US. We all are familiar with this checkbox “this is a computer that I trust and use regularly”. USPTO tells us that supposedly if we check this box, then for the next 24 hours we will be saved from the time-waste of having to do the two-step authentication. This check box is super important given that a year or so ago the USPTO went against user wishes and shortened the forced-logout time interval from 60 minutes to a mere 30 minutes. Anyway as readers know, this check box almost never actually works. Finally today I figured out why it almost never works. Continue reading “why the MyUSPTO check box doesn’t work”
Update: Status of ID5 Offices in DAS
Let’s remind ourselves how the five biggest Offices for industrial design protection (called “ID5”) are coming along in terms of participation in the DAS system. It is recalled that the DAS system permits the exchange and retrieval of electronic certified copies of priority documents. So which Offices are trendy, modern, and up-to-date? Which of the ID5 Offices have not yet joined DAS for designs? Continue reading “Update: Status of ID5 Offices in DAS”
Today is the day for IP Australia and designs in DAS
It will be recalled (blog article, October 1, 2019) that today was to be the day that Australia would join the DAS system as an Accessing Office and as a Depositing Office for industrial designs. I am delighted to be able to report that this has actually happened, as you can see here: Continue reading “Today is the day for IP Australia and designs in DAS”
Amazon IP Accelerator – a flawed service
On October 1, 2019, Amazon launched its IP Accelerator service. Through this service, Amazon offers a jump-the-line way for a seller to get into the Amazon Brand Registry. Amazon did not do this well, and Amazon’s actions will likely harm consumers, as I will explain. Continue reading “Amazon IP Accelerator – a flawed service”
Helpful initialisms – WYHA? WYHO? WYHP?
John L. Welch of TTABlog fame has coined three initialisms that have enriched the lives of all trademark practitioners. Continue reading “Helpful initialisms – WYHA? WYHO? WYHP?”
Using “acronym” correctly
It was Penn Jillette whose comments on a television show (NSFW) made me realize that I had been misusing the term acronym all my life. Continue reading “Using “acronym” correctly”
Time zones and ePCT
Yesterday I blogged about the fact that Europe and US do their daylight saving time changes on different weekends: E-filing at WIPO – you get an extra hour. This prompted Ann Bardini of WIPO to write to me to offer a reminder of some of the features of ePCT that help users to keep track of when midnight is coming and when a filer’s last possible filing date is imminent. With her permission I have more or less converted her email message into the following guest blog posting. Continue reading “Time zones and ePCT”