Will you be in San Diego at the time of the INTA annual meeting? If so, there are two receptions that you won’t want to miss.
Continue reading “The two receptions that you need to attend in San Diego in May”
Hague rules published
President Obama signed the act enabling the US to join the Hague Agreement on December 18, 2012. Would-be users of the Hague Agreement have thus been waiting for more than two years for the Final Rules implementing the Hague Agreement. Today the USPTO published the Final Rules.
In coming days and weeks I will post comments and observations about the new Rules. If you’ve not already done so, I invite you to subscribe to this blog so that you will see the comments and observations.
The latest US design patent examination backlog …
We try to track the First Office Action Predictions for many of our pending patent applications for one reason or another. By now there is a very clear trend of FOAPs for newly filed US design patent applications. It suggests that there is quite a backlog of unexamined US design patent applications.
Continue reading “The latest US design patent examination backlog …”
Speaking at the NAPP Annual Meeting
I’ll be speaking at the 2015 annual meeting of the National Association of Patent Practitioners. The meeting is July 11-14 in Denver.
This weekend and your filings at WIPO
This weekend is when Americans (well, most Americans) change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time. This makes a big difference if you are going to e-file something at WIPO or fax-file something at WIPO.
Design Day 2015
Registration is now open for the Ninth Annual USPTO Design Day. This important event will take place April 14, 2015.
USPTO will be closed on Tuesday, February 17
The weather reports for the Washington area call for “six to ten inches of snow” between now and noon on Tuesday. So the USPTO will be formally closed on Tuesday, February 17. This means that if you needed to file something on the 17th to satisfy some USPTO due date, it will be timely if filed on Wednesday the 18th.
Continue reading “USPTO will be closed on Tuesday, February 17”
When the new fifteen-year design patent term takes effect?
In a recent blog post I said that May 13, 2015 will be a big day, and one of the reasons it will be a big day is that design patents granted from applications filed on or after that day will enjoy a fifteen-year term. This is a longer term than the fourteen years with which we are familiar.
In response, alert reader and patent practitioner Karen Oster asked about the many web articles that say that the effective date for the fifteen-year patent term was fourteen months ago on December 18, 2013. Among them are:
Continue reading “When the new fifteen-year design patent term takes effect?”
Countdown to the Hague Agreement in the US
Here is a countdown to the date (May 13) when the US will belong to the Hague Agreement.
USPTO closed Monday February 16
Just a reminder that the USPTO will be closed on Monday, February 16. This is Washington’s Birthday* which is a federal holiday.
Anything that you might need to do by February 16 to satisfy some USPTO due date may be postponed until Tuesday, February 17 and will still be timely.