Keep in mind that most locations in the US will turn off daylight saving time today (November 5, 2022), but today is not the day that Switzerland will turn off daylight saving time. (Switzerland turned off DST a week ago, as I reported to you in a blog post a week ago.) Continue reading “US filers and filing at WIPO and daylight saving time”
Daylight saving time and WIPO
Keep in mind that Switzerland will turn off daylight saving time today. 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. Continue reading “Daylight saving time and WIPO”
No web-based Issue Fee payment for Hague applications
It is recalled that one of USPTO’s stated goals for Patentcenter is that before it shuts down EFS-Web, the USPTO will bring forward all of the functions and features of EFS-Web into Patentcenter. It is also a matter of common sense that each function and feature in Patentcenter that works for one application type needs to be implemented for all other relevant application types. This blog article reports that the USPTO is now doubling down on a baffling refusal to correct a defect in Patentcenter relating to the payment of Issue Fees in Hague (35-series) applications. Continue reading “No web-based Issue Fee payment for Hague applications”
Time of day at the IB returns to normal for US filers
Two weeks ago I blogged (see blog posting) that US filers filing PCT applications in RO/IB needed to pay extra close attention to what time it is in Switzerland. (And it was the same for e-filers in the Madrid Protocol system.) The reason is that in the US, Daylight Saving Time happened on March 12. But 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 RO/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 26, 2023) 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 in RO/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.
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. Continue reading “Filing at the International Bureau and Daylight Saving Time”
Brazil joins the Hague system
Brazil has joined the Hague system. Continue reading “Brazil joins the Hague system”
An annual ritual for me – scheduled postings about DST
Hello dear readers. There is an annual ritual which I keep hoping would eventually cease to be necessary, but yet again today the ritual presents itself. What I am talking about is the annual scheduling of four blog postings about Daylight Saving Time. Continue reading “An annual ritual for me – scheduled postings about DST”
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.
How to be unwise when naming your firm
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.
Time of day at IB returns to normal for US filers
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.