Patents – Page 78 – Ant-Like Persistence

Here is what the USPTO says:

While activities across much of the federal government ceased at 12:01 a.m. January 20, 2018, due to a lack of appropriated funding, the USPTO remains operational.

This is possible because the agency has access to prior year fee collections, which enables the USPTO to continue normal operations for a few weeks. Should the USPTO exhaust these funds before a government shutdown comes to an end, the agency would have to shut down at that time, although a very small staff would continue to work to accept new applications and maintain IT infrastructure, among other functions.

Further information regarding any adjustments to the USPTO’s operating status during a federal government shutdown will be posted on the USPTO website and delivered to the news media.

January 10, 2018

Patent Prosecution Boot Camp imminent

The Nineteenth Annual AIPLA Patent Prosecution Boot Camp will take place February 7-9 in Denver. Nowhere else will you get a faculty that includes more than three dozen extremely experienced patent practitioners, with three days of classes. For more information, or to register, click here.

Yours truly is among the presenters at this unique program.

January 8, 2018

An opportunity to save money on USPTO patent fees

It will be recalled (see my blog article of December 14, 2017) that most USPTO patent fees will increase, some substantially, on Tuesday, January 16, 2018. This presents an opportunity to save money. If there is some fee that you were considering paying on or after January 16, maybe you should pay it earlier, for example on Monday, January 15.

January 7, 2018

Why have you not registered for this CLE webinar?

Tuesday, January 9 there will be a webinar about sequence listings. The webinar is free of charge. This webinar will be presented by two experienced practitioners, Suzannah K. Sundby and Carl Oppedahl.

As of right now, the number of people who have signed up for this webinar is less than the number of people in the world. This might mean that you have not signed up for this webinar. Which then raises the question:

Why have you not signed up for this webinar?

For more information, or to register for this free webinar about sequence listings, click here.

If you know someone who might want to attend this free webinar about sequence listings, you will probably be doing them a favor if you pass this information on to them.

December 19, 2017

Webinar on sequence listings and patent applications

If your patent application contains nucleotide or amino acid sequences, to comply with US and PCT rules you need to provide the sequences to the patent office as computer-readable sequence listings. This webinar, which is CLE accredited and is free of charge, explains how to prepare and e-file such sequence listings.

December 18, 2017

Abstract is required to “commence on a separate sheet”? No!

From time to time an Examiner in the USPTO recites this objection:

The abstract of the disclosure does not commence on a separate sheet in accordance with 37 CFR §§ 1.52(b)(4) and 1.72(b). A new abstract of the disclosure is required and must be presented on a separate sheet, apart from any other text.

An Examiner made such an objection a couple of days ago in one of our cases. We will be able to force the Examiner to withdraw the objection. Continue reading “Abstract is required to “commence on a separate sheet”? No!”

December 16, 2017

USPTO favors a particular company

The USPTO did a bad thing the other day. It told its customers, falsely, that the only way to do time-based one-time passwords is to use Oracle’s app. USPTO says “you must have the Oracle Mobile Authenticator app on your mobile device” to do one-time passwords. This is flatly false and it wrongly favors a particular company. Hopefully the USPTO will remedy its mistake immediately. I’ll explain this. Continue reading “USPTO favors a particular company”

December 15, 2017

Most USPTO patent fees will increase January 16

Most USPTO patent fees will increase, some rather substantially, on January 16, 2018. You can see the Federal Register notice here. Here are some examples of fee increases that will take effect on that day: Continue reading “Most USPTO patent fees will increase January 16”

December 11, 2017

A new Best Practice – reporting docx

A year ago or so, the USPTO started a beta-test of its system in which docx files play an important role. In the best-test system, an applicant was permitted to file a patent application in docx format rather than PDF format. Likewise, the applicant had the opportunity to receive some documents from the USPTO in docx format in addition to PDF format. Our firm was among the beta-testers of this docx system.

Now, as of September 10, 2017, these features have been made available to all USPTO customers (not merely the beta-test users). This offers a new Best Practice for reporting to clients.

Continue reading “A new Best Practice – reporting docx”

December 6, 2017

ISA/RU search fee for US filers increases today

It will be recalled (see blog post of November 3, 2017) that the search fee to be paid by a US filer selecting ISA/RU was scheduled for a fee increase today, December 6, 2017.

The fee increase, from $482 to $698, has indeed taken place.

You do not need to worry about accidentally paying the incorrect fee amount, because EFS-Web and ePCT have both been updated to reflect this new fee amount.

As of today the various searching authorities available to those who file in RO/US, ranked by the amount of the search fee, are:

EP – $2238
US – $2080
AU – $1688
SG – $1552
JP – $1372
KR – $1114
US – $1040 (small entity)
IL – $963
RU – $698
US – $520 (micro entity)

There are many factors in addition to price which a filer might wish to take into account when selecting an International Searching Authority.

Category: Patents

USPTO will not shut down