Category: Patents

There are quite a few upcoming opportunities to learn about the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Of course a very good way to learn of upcoming learning opportunities about PCT is to check the PCT Seminar Calendar at the web site of WIPO. WIPO updates this calendar frequently.

Upcoming programs include:

• PCT lecture within the framework of the “Patent Administration: A Foundation for Success” course, September 13-14, San Diego, CA.  (Patent Resources Group, yours truly presenting.)
• PCT Seminar, September 14, Chicago, IL.  (John Marshall Law School.)
• PCT Seminar, September 21-22, Cary, NC.  (North Carolina Bar Association, yours truly among the faculty.)
• PCT Seminar “Essential PCT”, October 3, Atlanta, GA.  (PCT Learning Center, yours truly among the faculty.)
• Advanced PCT Seminar and Symposium on International Authorities, October 5, Washington, DC.  (PCT Learning Center, yours truly among the faculty.)
• The Essential PCT, October 19, Milwaukee, WI.  (PCT Learning Center.)
• ePCT Training Seminar, October 30, Irvine, CA.  (PCT Learning Center.)
• ePCT Training Seminar, November 1, San Francisco, CA.  (PCT Learning Center.)
• PCT Seminar, November 1, Boston, MA (Boston Patent Law Association.)
• PCT Boot Camp, November 2, Seattle, WA  (PCT Learning Center.)
• ePCT Training Seminar, November 3, Seattle, WA.  (PCT Learning Center.)
• PCT lecture within the framework of the “Patent Administration: A Foundation for Success” course, November 8-9, Philadelphia, PA.  (Patent Resources Group, yours truly presenting.)

Readers will recall (perhaps from my blog post of July 15) that the search fee for ISA/EP will increase (for US filers) on September 1, 2017.   This offers an opportunity to save a little money. Continue reading “A chance to save a little money on PCT search fees”

The PCT rules and Applicant’s Guide talk about what should go into an Abstract.  In the PCT system it is up to the International Searching Authority to enforce the rules about Abstracts.  WIPO is inviting comments (see Circular PCT 1517) on whether the rules and guide should be revised.  Such revisions, if they were to happen, would change what the ISA looks for when it reviews an Abstract.

Comments are due September 30, 2017.  If you would like to participate in a listserv committee to prepare and file comments, join the PCT listserv (if you are not already a member) and join in the discussion there.  What follows are a few thoughts about Abstracts. Continue reading “Does the Abstract matter any more?”

There are a few seats still available for the AIPLA PCT Seminar.  This will be Monday and Tuesday, July 24-25, 2017 in Crystal City, Virginia.

Yours truly is among the presenters for this seminar.

For more information or to register, click here.

The search fee for US applicants at the EPO will increase on September 1, 2017.  The search fee is presently $1992 but will increase to $2099.  Here is how the search fees will rank after the fee change: Continue reading “Search fee for ISA/EP to increase on September 1”

As I reported on May 5, 2017, the Israel Patent Office made plans to increase the search fee for US filers from $911 to $963.  The fee change takes effect today.

At the present time, very few US PCT filers pick ISA/IL.  So this fee increase will not affect very many US PCT filers.

Most US filers file their PCT applications in EFS-Web because most US filers use RO/US for their PCT filings.  EFS-Web was updated today to reflect this new fee amount.  So there is not much risk of a US filer accidentally paying the old (smaller) fee.

 

A colleague at a very well known patent firm asks this:

Some of our clients (a few very large, sophisticated patent clients) refuse to let us move from PCT-Safe to ePCT for their matters since they claim the ePCT servers are located outside the US and that, at a minimum, a foreign-filing license would first be required prior to filing.  Do you have any related experiences with clients?  If so, how did you address their concerns?

First let me offer a compliment to those companies.  It is really good that they think about the FFL issue.  A company (or a practitioner) that fails to pay attention to FFL issues can really run into trouble later. Continue reading “Reluctant to migrate from PCT-SAFE to ePCT?”

The Israel Patent Office presently charges a search fee of $911 for US filers.  On July 1, 2017 this fee will increase to $963.

At the present time, very few US PCT filers pick ISA/IL.  So this fee increase will not affect very many US PCT filers.

Today the search fee paid by a US filer for the Russian patent office as International Searching Authority increases from $449 to $482.  (I first reported this here on March 17, 2017.)

Filers who use EFS-Web to file in RO/US, or who use PCT-SAFE or ePCT to file in RO/IB, will not need to worry about getting this right.  Each of those e-filing systems has already been updated today to reflect the new fee.