Category: Patents

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How things are going with bug fixes in USPTO’s Patentcenter

Patentcenter is still nominally in beta test, but USPTO seems to be plowing ahead with its plans to force all applicants to e-file patent applications in Microsoft Word format (the Microsoft Word dialect of DOCX) and has long ago stopped any development or feature enhancements for EFS-Web or PAIR.  USPTO has said it will shut down EFS-Web and PAIR and users will have no choice but to use Patentcenter to do the things that have in the past been done through EFS-Web and PAIR.  So what is the progress at the USPTO with fixing the known bugs in Patentcenter? 

There is a Patentcenter beta tester user community, tied together by the Patentcenter listserv.  (Interested persons should join that listserv.)  A committee from the listserv met last autumn with some USPTO developers and it was hoped that this might lead to some progress with fixing some of the bugs in Patentcenter.  It was also hoped that USPTO would listen to users and implement some of the enhancements and features requested by users.  

About four months ago, it was explored that the committee might meet again with USPTO people to review the bug list and to see what progress USPTO had been made with the bug list.  Some time has passed and the meeting had not yet happened.  So to save time, I have prepared this report that summarizes my best assessment of USPTO’s progress with the bug list.  Maybe some time soon the meeting will be able to take place and there will be an opportunity for further dialog.  In the mean time, this blog article reviews USPTO’s progress in this area.  (Preview:  things look grim.) 

In a subsequent blog article I will review USPTO’s progress with the list of requested feature enhancements for Patentcenter.  (Preview:  things look grim in that area as well.)

Continue reading “How things are going with bug fixes in USPTO’s Patentcenter”

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Patentcenter fails to tell you what application you are filing in

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One category of recurring task in any e-filing system is what might be termed a “follow-on submission” or a “subsequently filed document”.  With such a task, you somehow indicate the application number of the application in which you wish to file your document.  Clearly one of the most important user interface goals is to help the user avoid an undesired result of inadvertently filing a document in the wrong application.   EFS-Web gets this right.  WIPO’s ePCT system gets this right.  But Patentcenter fails, as may be seen from the screen shot at right.  Continue reading “Patentcenter fails to tell you what application you are filing in”

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Is it important to record assignments in divisional and continuation cases?

Assume for sake of discussion that a properly worded assignment has been executed and recorded for a US patent application.  By this we mean an assignment that indeed settles ownership of of the subject matter of that patent application to the named applicant (typically a corporation or other legal entity that to which the inventors were obligated to assign the invention).  Now assume that a continuation or divisional application gets filed pursuant to 35 USC § 120 (in this discussion I do not mean to assume a continuation-in-part).  The question posed is:

Is it important, or even necessary, to record the assignment with respect to the child case?

In this blog article I will discuss factors that I can think of that might influence an applicant’s decision as to whether or not to go to the trouble of recording the assignment in the child case.  I hope you, dear reader, will consider this question, and I hope you will post a comment below with your thoughts about this.  Continue reading “Is it important to record assignments in divisional and continuation cases?”

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USPTO gets it right sometimes — disclosures from parent case

Every now and then I am astonished to see the USPTO getting something right.  Here is an example of the USPTO getting something right — what it amounts to is that I filed a divisional patent application and the USPTO filed for me the IDS that I was getting ready to file.  Yes, of course normally when one files a continuation or divisional application, one faces the tedious task of preparing an IDS in the child case to disclose all of the references from the parent case.  Here, oversimplifying it slightly, I have a case where the USPTO filed that child-case IDS for me.  I won’t have to prepare and file that IDS.  You might wonder, what’s going on here?  You might wonder, why is the USPTO doing my work for me?  If you wonder these things, then read on. Continue reading “USPTO gets it right sometimes — disclosures from parent case”

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How to overcome the login defects in Patentcenter

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It can be very difficult to log in at Patentcenter, which is the system that USPTO intends will replace Private PAIR and EFS-Web.  Given that USPTO plans to shut down both Private PAIR and EFS-Web in the near future, what follows from this is that the USPTO needs to fix the many design flaws and software bugs in Patentcenter.  Many of the flaws and bugs in Patentcenter have been outstanding since its alpha-test launch more than two years ago, and have not been fixed even after more than two years.  Today’s blog article talks about a trick that often helps with the login defects in Patentcenter. Continue reading “How to overcome the login defects in Patentcenter”

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Upcoming webinars for sequence listing enthusiasts

There are two upcoming webinars for those who frequently work with sequence listings:

  • WIPO Sequence Validator.  May 12, 2021 at 4 AM Mountain Time.  Duration, 90 minutes.  To register, click here. 
  • WIPO ST.26: Advanced.  May 19, 2021 at 5 AM Mountain Time.  Duration:  90 minutes.  To register, click here. 
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Upcoming webinar: Understanding PCT incorporation by reference

US practitioners toss the phrase “incorporation by reference” into patent applications as a matter of routine.  But in the world of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, and in many designated Offices in which one might enter the national or regional phase from a PCT application, there are only very limited circumstances in which an applicant can rely upon incorporation by reference.  

Attend this webinar, presented by WIPO, to learn just what the limited circumstances are in which a PCT applicant may rely upon incorporation by reference.  The presenters will be Matthias Reischle-Park, Deputy Director and Hanna Kang, Legal Officer, PCT Legal and User Relations Division.  Continue reading “Upcoming webinar: Understanding PCT incorporation by reference”

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Sign up for a webinar on ePCT

WIPO will be providing a two-hour overview of ePCT and its functionalities. Attendees will be shown how to do several important things, including:

  • how to file PCT applications online,
  • how to perform online Actions,
  • how to share access rights, and
  • how to best manage applications by using the many practical features offered by ePCT.

The speakers will be Viviane Gross, Head, PCT eServices, and Pascal Piriou, Customer Service Assistant. Continue reading “Sign up for a webinar on ePCT”

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A new listserv for ST.26 users

For many years, those who e-file genetic sequence listings have prepared and filed the listings using a standard called ST.25.  A successor standard fetchingly named ST.26 has been agreed upon by all of the patent offices of the world.  It is XML-based.  A software tool has been developed by WIPO which users can use to create, edit, and verify ST.26 sequence listings.  

I have set up a new listserv named ST26@oppedahl-lists.com for email discussions relating to the use of ST.26.  This listserv will chiefly be of interest to those who work with sequence listings when they file patent applications. 

This listserv joins the many other intellectual-property related listservs hosted by OPLF, for example for trademark practitioners, for users of the Patent Cooperation Treaty, for users of USPTO’s Patentcenter, for users of the Madrid Protocol, for protection of industrial designs, and for protection of copyrights.

To find out more about the new ST.26 listserv or to subscribe to the ST.26 listserv, click here.