Join the nice people of WIPO for the eagerly awaited annual advanced seminar on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of October 2 and 3, 2024, brought to you by the PCT Legal and User Relations Division. Continue reading “Advanced seminar on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)”
Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity CLE for patent and trademark attorneys
Colorado Rule 250.2(1)(a)(i) says that beginning January 1, 2023, every registered attorney must achieve at least two credit hours per reporting period in the area of equity, diversity, and inclusivity.
The Colorado office in charge of CLE lists three areas that are supposed to be covered in CLE courses about equity, diversity, and inclusivity, namely:
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- equal access to the legal system;
- competent representation of diverse populations;
- the recognition, mitigation, or elimination of bias in the legal profession or the legal system.
What may a patent attorney or trademark attorney do to respond in a meaningful way to licensure requirements regarding equity, diversity, and inclusivity? In this webinar, join your presenter, Carl Oppedahl, in trying to figure out what the problems are, in such areas as patent and trademark prosecution, for which an EDI CLE requirement might be a solution.
When and where? Thursday, September 5, 2024, Noon to 1:40 PM Mountain Time (100 minutes)
Format: Live webinar
For more information, or to register, click here.
Ethics CLE – securing electronic communications
In nearly every state, ethics rules require a lawyer to make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client. Colorado Rule 1.6(c), for example, says:
A lawyer shall make reasonable efforts to prevent the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure of, or unauthorized access to, information relating to the representation of a client.
Does it violate ethics rules to use email in client communications? Does it violate ethics rules to use ordinary text messaging on a mobile phone? What about Skype, or Whatsapp, Viber or Signal? Continue reading “Ethics CLE – securing electronic communications”
Uruguay on a path to join the PCT
(Update: Uruguay has deposited its instrument of accession! See blog article.)
(Corrected my mistake about the consequences of Uruguay having joined only Chapter I.)
I am delighted to see that Uruguay is on the way to membership in the Patent Cooperation Treaty. It has passed both chambers of the Uruguayan legislature, and is on its way to the executive branch for signature. Continue reading “Uruguay on a path to join the PCT”
Attend a 2½-day live in-person Patent Cooperation Treaty seminar in scenic Summit County, Colorado
Attend a 2½-day live in-person Patent Cooperation Treaty seminar in scenic Summit County, Colorado, next to Lake Dillon and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Maybe also attend an optional half-day program specifically directed to docketing of the PCT. Tuesday, June 25 to Thursday, June 27, 2024.
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- Get $90 off the 2½-day class if you book by Tuesday, June 11 – coupon code BL0603A
- Get $36 off the half-day course if you book by Tuesday, June 11 – coupon code BL0603B
- Get $126 off both courses if you book by Tuesday, June 11 – coupon code BL0603C
For more information, or to register, click here.
Assignment Center was broken for customers using IPv6, now fixed
Here is a subtle mistake that the USPTO made recently. The USPTO made it so that if a USPTO customer were to try to use Assignment Center using an IPv4 address, Assignment Center would work. But if instead the USPTO customer were to try to use Assignment Center using an IPv6 address (Wikipedia article), Assignment Center would fail to load. I reported this on May 7, 2024 in a posting to the Patent Practice listserv. You can see the listserv posting here.
Now on May 13, I see that the USPTO corrected its mistake. It is now possible to make use of Assignment Center even if you are using an IPv6 address.
I think what almost certainly happened is, one of the USPTO lurkers on the Patent Practice listserv saw the May 7 posting about the defect, and forwarded the posting to one of the Assignment Center developers, and eventually they corrected the defect.
USPTO fails to let me know that it fixed a defect that I reported in Assignment Center
Three times in February of 2024, by three different communications channels to the USPTO, I reported a defect in Assignment Center. The defect, shown at right, was that Assignment Center refused to permit me to record an assignment against a PCT application number.
Now, three months later, the USPTO did fix this defect. But the USPTO failed to let me know they fixed it. I had to stumble upon it by accident that the USPTO had fixed it. Continue reading “USPTO fails to let me know that it fixed a defect that I reported in Assignment Center”
Attend a 2½-day live in-person Patent Cooperation Treaty seminar in scenic Summit County, Colorado
Attend a 2½-day live in-person Patent Cooperation Treaty seminar in scenic Summit County, Colorado, next to Lake Dillon and surrounded by snow-capped mountains. Maybe also attend an optional half-day program specifically directed to docketing of the PCT. Tuesday, June 25 to Thursday, June 27, 2024.
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- Get $100 off the 2½-day class if you book by May 18 – coupon code Z4GJFQJA
- Get $40 off the half-day course if you book by May 18 – coupon code DXRLPGND
- Get $140 off both courses if you book by May 18 – coupon code EPXOGTH0
For more information, or to register, click here.
USPTO shifts another burden to applicants – IDS citations
Some practitioners have noticed that there has been a clerk in the Issue Branch who tirelessly marks up IDSs as shown at right. The clerk’s initials are TDR.
The USPTO has now burden-shifted this markup task to applicants, and wrongly so. Continue reading “USPTO shifts another burden to applicants – IDS citations”
USPTO flip-flops on whether a patent application title reveals technical data
Can the title of a not-yet-published US patent application reveal technical data? Read on to see the USPTO talks out of two sides of its mouth, reaching both a “yes” and a “no” answer to this question.
Continue reading “USPTO flip-flops on whether a patent application title reveals technical data”