Bluesky: @oppedahl.com
for users of Patentcenter
It is astonishing to see the USPTO developers repeating a mistake now in 2023 that they made in 2020. Back in 2020, it took the developers more than six months to fix it. One wonders how long it will take this time. The mistake was to assume (incorrectly) that “patent offices” are the same thing as “places that you can send mail to”. I am not making this up!
Continue reading “Three years later, USPTO developers repeat a coding mistake”
The USPTO people who are developing Patent Center have stepped up the frequency with which users of Patent Center encounter a pop-up window containing a customer survey. It is sad is that one section of the survey (quoted at right) fishes for undeserved compliments. Continue reading “Patent Center developers fishing for compliments”
Today is Thursday, November 16. USPTO leadership shut down PAIR and EFS-Web at about 11:59 PM on Tuesday, November 14. We can reflect on things with two days’ perspective. Continue reading “Looking back, two days after the demise of PAIR and EFS-Web”
Today I had to pay an Issue Fee. Let’s see how many Patent Center bugs and missing features I encountered in a single e-filing session in Patent Center, trying to pay an Issue Fee. Try to guess how many bugs and missing features were encountered. Continue reading “How many Patent Center bugs and missing features can one encounter in a single e-filing task?”
The USPTO developers don’t even play by their own rules, as I will describe here. Continue reading “USPTO developers fail to play by their own rules — “PDF””
Just now I logged in at Patent Center and tried to view my outgoing correspondence. I was greeted with a big red error message saying Search Limit Reached. This is bug number CP178. I opened EBC ticket number 1-843318724. EBC agent 50 checked with the Patent Center team and reported back that this is a feature, not a bug. This feature blocks data mining, he explained. Continue reading “Patent Center is not ready, and PAIR cannot be shut down tonight”
Readers will recall that originally the USPTO was firm in its commitment to a shutdown of PAIR and EFS-Web at 11:59 PM on November 7, 2023 (blog article).
Readers will also recall that with less than two hours remaining before the close of business on November 7, the USPTO blinked and did not shut down PAIR and EFS-Web that day (blog article). Instead, the USPTO postponed the shutdown of PAIR and EFS-Web by four business days. The shutdown got postponed to 11:59 PM today, November 14.
Yes, the USPTO has firmly stated today is the day that it will shut down PAIR and EFS-Web. This will happen at 11:59 PM tonight.
On November 5, 2023, I predicted (blog article) that the USPTO leadership would take corrective action in response to the situation that EBC would often tell a caller that the way to overcome a bug in Patent Center was to go back and do the task using PAIR or EFS-Web. And my prediction has turned out to be correct. USPTO leadership has indeed taken corrective action about this situation. Continue reading “USPTO leadership has taken corrective action”
One of the most striking disconnects during the October 18 meeting with Commissioner for Patents Vaishali Udupa was the topic of “what happens after a USPTO customer opens an EBC (Electronic Business Center) trouble ticket about a Patent Center bug?” Continue reading “Waiting to hear about EBC tickets from Commissioner for Patents Udupa”
It is embarrassing to see the USPTO trying to conceal its “blink” on Patent Center that happened on November 7, 2023. Continue reading “USPTO tries to conceal the Patent Center “blink””