Some weeks ago I posted most of the slides for Design Day 2018. Just now I received the last couple of slide decks — State of Technology Center 2900 and the Scientific Games presentations. You can see them all here.
A design electronic priority document experiment to try
At the present moment the number of Offices participating in DAS as depositing Offices is quite small. So far as I am aware the list of design depositing Offices is limited to China, Spain, and India. But a little-known feature of DAS permits design practitioners to be really smart about electronic certified copies. Continue reading “A design electronic priority document experiment to try”
DAS membership and participation developments
It has been announced that on June 1, 2018, the Netherlands Patent Office will join the DAS system. This is of course welcome news, and this will bring the number of DAS participating Offices to 18.
Among the IP5, conspicuously absent from DAS is the European Patent Office. EPO has promised that it will join DAS by late 2018.
Among the ID5, conspicuously absent from DAS is the European Union Intellectual Property Office. It is hoped that EUIPO will join DAS soon.
With regard to the USPTO, the PDX system provides some of the same functions as DAS. If between some pair of Offices (for example US and CN or US and KR) there is both a PDX relationship and a DAS relationship, the PDX relationship trumps. As between DAS and PDX, DAS is to be preferred. It permits more effective troubleshooting by the practitioner and it is more secure. Thus it is hoped that USPTO will soon pull the plug on its PDX relationships with CN and KR, thus permitting DAS to be employed instead.
It is hoped that more and more Offices will participate in DAS with respect to design applications. USPTO has indicated that it will commence participation in DAS as a depositing Office for designs Real Soon Now.
Industrial Designs and Detroit test cars

I live in aptly named Summit Country, Colorado at an altitude of about 9000 feet (about 2750 meters) above sea level. (The photograph at the top of this blog page shows some of the mountains where I live, including two “fourteeners“, Grays Peak, which I have climbed, and Torreys Peak.) The point of this blog article is that every year, about twice a year, a swarm of several dozen Detroit test cars arrives in Summit County. This spring’s swarm of Detroit test cars has arrived, and this photograph shows one of them. Continue reading “Industrial Designs and Detroit test cars”
Design Day 2018 was a success!

Design Day 2018 took place as scheduled on April 25, 2018 in the Madison auditorium (with remote events at regional patent offices). Here you can see a portion of the audience. The room was packed.
The program, which you can see here, was excellent. Here are most of the slide presentations:
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- State of the Technology Center – Karen Young
- Beyond the USPTO: Design Developments Across the Globe – Courtney Stopp
- Prosecution Practices Panel
- Report from the Front Lines: Patent Office Proceedings – George Raynal
- Federal Circuit Year in Review – Alexis Simpson
- Protecting Designs – Michael Blankstein (Scientific Games)
- Report from the Front Line: US District Courts – Dunstan Barnes
Webinar: learn about PDX and DAS
I will be teaching a webinar on Tuesday, May 8 about PDX and DAS. Attend this webinar to learn about PDX and DAS or to reinforce what you already know. This program will be of interest to anyone who works on inbound or outbound filings, whether Paris-based or PCT-based or Hague Agreement-based.
To learn more, or to register, click here.
Meet the Bloggers XIV in Seattle
Will you be in Seattle on May 22, 2018? Maybe for the annual meeting of the International Trademark Association (INTA)? Then please attend the fourteen annual Meet the Bloggers. Be there or be square!
MTB XIV will be Tuesday, May 22, 2018 from 8PM to 10PM at Garage Billiards, 1130 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122. Read about it here and on the TTABlog and on the iPelton Blog.
05/22/2018 08:00 PM
05/22/2018 10:00 PM
America/Los_Angeles
Meet the Bloggers XIV
Fourteenth annual Meet the Bloggers
Garage Billiards, 1130 Broadway, Seattle, WA 98122
See also the e-Trademarks listserv reception which will take place the previous day.
Starting June 13, should you check the “GB” box in your Hague application in addition to the “EM” box?
On June 13, 2018 it will commence being possible to check the “GB” box in addition to checking the “EM” box when you file a design application in the Hague system. Should you actually do so? Continue reading “Starting June 13, should you check the “GB” box in your Hague application in addition to the “EM” box?”
United Kingdom joins Hague Agreement!

When the UK chose the path of Brexit, I blogged this:
The UK does not belong to Hague. It will be particularly helpful if the UK were to join Hague right away.
That was in June of 2016. I had blogged here (October 2017) and here (December 2017) that this development was imminent. Now indeed the UK has joined the Hague Agreement (WIPO press release here).
Two openings remaining for Design Day

(Update: see the comment below. The event is now sold out.)
Every year, the USPTO Design Day sells out. This year will be no exception. As of right now, only two openings are left.
To find out more, or to register, click here.