Category: Patents

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Time of day returns to normal for US filers filing at the International Bureau

Readers will recall my blog post of two weeks ago in which I described that an American filer would (for a limited time of two weeks) have an extra hour during which to file a same-day filing at the IB.  Well, now it’s back to normal.  Now the drop-dead time for e-filing (or fax filing) is the usual 4PM (Mountain Time).

So for your PCT filing at the RO/IB, or your direct filing of a Hague Agreement design application, or your payment of a renewal for a Madrid Protocol international trademark registration, or an Article 19 amendment, or a PCT Demand … it’s back to normal.

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USPTO thinks there is such a thing as a “provisional patent”?

I guess probably a dozen times a day I go to the USPTO web site.  I go to the home page, and then I click around until I find what I need (for example Private PAIR).

Now we all know there is no such thing as a “provisional patent”, right?  Yes there is such a think as a “provisional patent application”.  But there is no such thing as a “provisional patent:.

I just now noticed an astonishing thing about the main page of the USPTO.  The home page of the USPTO invites the visitor to search for information on a “provisional patent”.

Continue reading “USPTO thinks there is such a thing as a “provisional patent”?”

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ISA/RU search fee to increase on May 1

For a US filer who is filing a PCT application and who is picking the Russian patent office, the search fee will increase on May 1, 2017.  The search fee, presently $449, will increase to $482.

If you rank ISAs in order by the size of the search fees, the Russian patent office will still be the least expensive searching authority available to US filers after May 1, just as it is now.

The formal name of the Russian patent office is Federal Service for Intellectual Property but the nickname is Rospatent.  Which gives us an opportunity to brush up on our knowledge Cyrillic.  As you can see in the logo at the upper right, in Cyrillic the “P” is what we English speakers would voice as an “r”.  The “C” is what we would voice as an “s”.  The Π (like a Greek letter π) is what we would voice as a “p”.  And the “H” is what we would voice as an “n”.

Which brings me to a fun old classic mystery movie in which this Cyrillic H played a part.  In the movie, a handkerchief is found with an “H” embroidered on it.  This implicates a person whose name is pronounced starting with an “h”.  But a clever person in the movie realizes that the “H” might be sounded as an “n”, implicating a person with a Russian name.

The first person to post a comment identifying this movie will win a super spiffy digital voltmeter from Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC.

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Opportunities to learn about the Patent Cooperation Treaty

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

  • March 13, 2017 in San Francisco, California
  • April 5-7, 2017 in Orlando, Florida
  • June 8, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
  • July 24-25, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia
  • September 21-22, 2017 in Cary, North Carolina

March 13, 2017 in San Francisco, California.  This one-day program is sponsored by WIPO and by the PCT Learning Center.  For more information, or to sign up, click here.

April 5-7, 2017 in Orlando, Florida.  This program is two and a half days long.  The program, entitled Comprehensive PCT Practice, is sponsored by WIPO and by the Patent Resources Group.  For more information, or to sign up, click here.  I will be the presenter for this program.

June 8, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This program, sponsored by WIPO and by the Patent Resources Group, is Patent Administration: A Foundation for Success.  For more information, or to sign up, click here.  I will be the presenter for the one-day PCT class that is part of this program.

July 24-25, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia.  This program is sponsored by WIPO and by the the American Intellectual Property Law Association.  I will be one of the presenters for this program.

September 21-22, 2017 in Cary, North Carolina.  This program is sponsored by WIPO and by the North Carolina Bar Association.  I will be the presenter for this program.

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Jordan joins the PCT

On March 9, Ambassador Saja Majali of Jordan deposited the Instrument of Accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty with the International Bureau of WIPO. This means that the PCT will come into force for Jordan on June 9, 2017.

This brings to 152 the number of member States for the PCT.

The two-letter code for Jordan is “JO”.

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Filing at the International Bureau and Daylight Saving Time

It’s that time of year again.  The time of year when it is important to keep track of the fact that Daylight Saving Time is different in Switzerland from the way it is in the United States.  This is important because you might be in the US, and you might be e-filing (or fax-filing) some document with the International Bureau of WIPO. Continue reading “Filing at the International Bureau and Daylight Saving Time”

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Who is the Director of the USPTO?

As I mentioned a couple of days ago, by statute, any issued US patent or US trademark registration must be “signed by the Director”.   So the question “who is the Director?” is not an idle question.

As of today (screen shot at right), the Department of Commerce web site still lists the position of Director as “vacant”.

Yesterday’s issued US patents and US trademark registrations bore Michelle Lee’s signature, just as on Tuesdays before.

 

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Some PCT search fees will change today

As a reminder some PCT search fees will change today for US PCT filers.

The ISA/EP fee will drop 5.3%, to $1992.  As of today, for the first time in thirty-eight years, this will be cheaper than ISA/US (for large entities).

The ISA/KR fee will drop 5.4%, to $1114.  As before, the real bargain at ISA/KR is the cost of the second through nth inventions will still only cost a couple of hundred dollars each.

The ISA/JP fee will drop 10.7%, to $1372.

The ISA/IL fee will drop 2.8%, to $911.

For a filer that counts the search fee price as a big factor in the selection of searching authority, these fee changes leave roughly unchanged the ranking of searching authorities by cost.

For a filer that uses EFS-Web or ePCT as the mechanism for e-filing of a PCT application, you do not need to worry about accidentally paying the wrong fee, because the e-filing system will automatically quote the correct fee.

There are still many other factors which might influence an applicant’s selection of International Searching Authority, as I summarize here.

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Patents and trademark registrations “shall be signed by the Director”

(Corrected thanks to David Boundy, as to which Director succeeded which.)

Normally the statutory requirement that a patent issued by the USPTO, or a trademark registration certificate issued by the USPTO, “shall be signed by the Director” (35 U.S. Code § 153 and 15 U.S. Code § 1057) is sort of boring.  But just now, the USPTO expressly refuses to say who is the Director of the USPTO.  What does this mean for patents and trademark registrations that have issued on recent Tuesdays? Continue reading “Patents and trademark registrations “shall be signed by the Director””