Category: Industrial Designs

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Free webinar: Learn about DAS and Designs

(Update:  The webinar took place and I think it went well.  To download the presentation slides or to watch a recording of the webinar, click here.)

It was all planned that I was going to be one of the speakers at USPTO Design Day 2020.  I was going to be presenting on the topic of DAS and Designs.  But Design Day got canceled.  What should I do with my presentation slides?  I’ll give the same presentation, but I’ll do it online.  This will be a free-of-charge webinar.  Maybe you’d like to attend, or maybe you know someone who’d like to attend.  Continue reading “Free webinar: Learn about DAS and Designs”

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USPTO 2020 Design Day is canceled

It is with regret that I report that USPTO 2020 Design Day, previously scheduled for April 23, 2020 (blog article), has been canceled.  I was really looking forward to attending the meeting.  I was scheduled to serve among the presenters at the meeting, speaking about the DAS system.

I will provide this presentation about the DAS system in a free-of-charge webinar on Tuesday, March 31.   To find out more about the webinar, or to register, click here.

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Help the meeting planners

Hello loyal blog readers.  Imagine how stressful it is right now for the people who are planning the upcoming intellectual property meetings.  INTA had planned its 2020 INTA Annual Meeting for Singapore, and canceled it, saying that it will schedule instead an annual meeting at some not-yet-selected city in the US, in May or June of 2020.  I gather that AIPLA is trying to figure out whether or not to keep in place its AIPLA Stated Spring Meeting presently scheduled for May 6-8 in San Antonio, Texas.  I have no doubt that the planners of the 2020 USPTO Design Day, scheduled for April 23 in Alexandria, Virginia, are wondering about all of this.  I imagine that the planners of the ABA-IPL 2020 Annual Meeting, scheduled for April 1-3 in Washington, DC are also wondering about all of this.  

The planners for those four meetings probably do not feel very comfortable trying to ask their potential attendees what their plans are.  But I can ask questions that they might not feel comfortable asking.  So I will.  And I will aggregate the responses and provide them to the planners of the four meetings.

Did you attend any of these four meetings in the past three years?  Are you thinking about attending one or more of these four upcoming meetings?  If so, please please please answer this short questionnaire and please do so by tomorrow, Wednesday, March 11.  It should only take two or three minutes and your answers might be a big help for the planners of these four meetings.  The questionnaire does not ask for your name or email address.  I will pass along the responses only in aggregated form.  

Thank you.

Carl Oppedahl

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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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Mexico joins Hague Agreement

Alert reader and experienced design practitioner Richard Stockton tipped me off that today, the Government of Mexico deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Agreement.  This brings the number of members of the Hague system to 74.  

This accession has been among the most anticipated of Hague accessions in recent years.  I blogged about the imminent accession here (October 21, 2017) and here (December 11, 2017) and here (July 19, 2018) and here (October 2, 2018) and here (October 20, 2018) and here (November 5, 2018).  You can see the WIPO press release here.

Mexico joined the Patent Cooperation Treaty on January 1, 1995 and joined the Madrid Protocol on February 19, 2013.  Thus, with today’s accession Mexico achieves the trifecta of membership in all three international e-filing systems (patents, trademarks, and designs).  The Hague Agreement will enter into force in Mexico on June 6, 2020.

This means that from June 6, 2020, applicants in Mexico will be able to use the Hague system to protect their industrial designs.  Likewise applicants in many dozens of countries around the world will from that date be able to use the Hague system to protect their designs in Mexico.  

Now that Mexico has joined, perhaps the most eagerly awaited accession is that of China.

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Register now for Design Day 2020

(The USPTO 2020 Design Day has been canceled.  See blog article.)

It will be recalled that I told you to save the date for Design Day 2020 which will take place on Thursday, April 23.  The in-person event will be at the main auditorium at 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.  Yes there will also be the opportunity to watch the event remotely at the satellite patent offices.

Hopefully you did indeed save the date.

Now the exciting news is that registration is now open for Design Day 2020.  To register, click here.  

This event always sells out.  If you snooze, you lose.  I suggest that if you are planning to attend, it would be wise not to dawdle in registering.

 

 

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Please print from SCORE

click to enlarge

(Corrected to say “Hague Agreement” and “2013” everywhere that I wrongly wrote “Madrid Protocol” and “2003”.  Thank you to alert reader Bill Eshelman!)

A recent Notice of Allowability received in our office contained the phrase “Please print from SCORE” which is highlighted at right.  I was glad to see it and I was particularly glad to see that the Examiner had added this phrase even without my having to ask for it.  What exactly does this phrase mean, and why am I so happy to see it? Continue reading “Please print from SCORE”

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The 2019 Toteboards are published

It is my honor to post the 2019 Toteboards.  These are:

These Tote Boards rank the top patent and trademark firms for carrying out filings in 2019 in these categories.  The 2019 Toteboards join the previous fifteen Toteboards which go back as far as 2012.

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Today is the last day to get your numbers in for the Tote Boards

On January 1, 2020 I invited everyone (blog post) to get your numbers in for the 2019 Tote Boards.  This includes:

  • the Eighth Annual US Design Patent Top Filers Tote Board
  • the Fifth Annual US Trademark Registration Top Filers Tote Board
  • the Fifth Annual US Utility Patent Top Filers Tote Board
  • the Third Annual US Plant Patent Top Filers Tote Board

These Tote Boards will rank the top patent and trademark firms for carrying out filings in 2019 in these categories.  The 2019 Tote Boards will join the previous fifteen Tote Boards which go back as far as 2012.

Today, January 31, is the last day to get your numbers in.

How many responses do we have so far?

  • As for the 2019 Trademark Tote Board, we have more than seventy firms responding, that have between them obtained more than eight thousand trademark registrations in 2019
  • As for the 2019 Utility Patent Tote Board, we have more than sixty firms responding, that have between them obtained more than forty thousand utility patents in 2019
  • As for the 2019 Design Patent Tote Board, we have more than sixty firms responding, that have between them obtained more than seven thousand design patents in 2019

Every year, some firm misses out by failing to get its numbers in by the closing date.  Don’t be that firm!  Get your numbers in before closing day which is today, January 31.  Click here for the:

  • response form for the 2019 (eighth annual) US design patent top filers tote board
  • response form for the 2019 (fifth annual) US trademark registration top filers tote board
  • response form for the 2019 (fifth annual) US utility patent top filers tote board
  • response form for the 2019 (third annual) US plant patent top filers tote board