Patents – Page 80 – Ant-Like Persistence

April 1, 2017

USPTO wrongly bouncing inventor declarations

Over on the EFS-Web listserv (the email discussion group for patent filers at the USPTO) there was an interesting discussion recently. A number of USPTO customers (frequent patent filers at the USPTO) were talking about USPTO’s bad habit of bouncing inventor declarations that have nothing wrong with them.

It would not be so bad if USPTO were to do its bouncing promptly after the inventor declaration is filed. In that case, if indeed there were actually something wrong with the inventor declaration, it would be a realistic goal to round up a fresh signature from the inventor.

Instead, the USPTO waits until allowance to mail the “Notice Requiring Inventor’s Oath or Declaration” (Form PTOL-2306). The Notice states that there is some real or imagined defect in the inventor declaration that was filed back when the patent application was filed in the first place. In a very large percentage of cases, there is not actually anything wrong with the inventor declaration. Continue reading “USPTO wrongly bouncing inventor declarations”

April 1, 2017

Past April Fool’s Day articles

Here are some of my past April Fool’s Day blog articles:

As for the second article (USPTO relocates its “contingency” EFS-Web server) what is particularly sad is that it should not have been an April Fool’s article at all. As many have pointed out over the course of many years, there is an ongoing need for USPTO to relocate its contigency patent e-filing server to a geographic location distant from the main e-filing server. There have been many system outages at the USPTO over the years in which both the main server and the “contingency” server were both out of service. It is just common sense that the two servers should not be in the same building, connected to the Internet through the same single connection point, powered by the same source of electrical power.

March 30, 2017

Why can’t USPTO use a user-friendly two-factor authentication?

WIPO’s release of its latest version of ePCT, with its two new user-friendly approaches to two-factor authentication, provides some perspective. Against this perspective, conspicuous by its absence is any hint or suggestion of USPTO moving to some user-friendly approach to two-factor authentication. Continue reading “Why can’t USPTO use a user-friendly two-factor authentication?”

March 30, 2017

Picking an authentication mechanism for ePCT

Starting just now, WIPO has made it possible to use two new authentication mechanisms for ePCT, in addition to the one authentication mechanism that has been available in the past. In this article I mention things that you might want to think about in picking an authentication mechanism to use. Continue reading “Picking an authentication mechanism for ePCT”

March 26, 2017

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.

March 25, 2017

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”?”

March 17, 2017

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.

March 12, 2017

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.

March 12, 2017

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”.

March 12, 2017

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”