Category: PCT

I am delighted to be able to report that Uruguay has deposited with the IB of WIPO its instrument of accession to the Patent Cooperation Treaty.  Continue reading “Uruguay has joined the PCT”

As I mentioned a couple of days ago (blog article), there will be a live in-person PCT seminar in Alexandria, Virginia on Monday, October 28, 2024.  I am delighted to be able to mention that yours truly will be among the faculty of this seminar.  For more information, or to register, click here.

(Update:  the registration link is now available – click here.)

There will be a live in-person PCT seminar in Alexandria, Virginia on Monday, October 28, 2024.  This seminar, mentioned in the recent WIPO PCT Newsletter, will be an all-day event.  WIPO will soon provide a registration link for the seminar.  For now, save the date in your calendar.  Be sure to subscribe to this blog, and be sure to subscribe to the PCT listserv, to hear about it when the registration link becomes available.

Join the nice people of WIPO for the eagerly awaited annual advanced seminar on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) of October 2 and 3, 2024, brought to you by the PCT Legal and User Relations Division.  Continue reading “Advanced seminar on the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT)”

(Update:  Uruguay has deposited its instrument of accession!  See blog article.)

(Corrected my mistake about the consequences of Uruguay having joined only Chapter I.)

I am delighted to see that Uruguay is on the way to membership in the Patent Cooperation Treaty.  It has passed both chambers of the Uruguayan legislature, and is on its way to the executive branch for signature.  Continue reading “Uruguay on a path to join the PCT”

Attend a 2½-day live in-person Patent Cooperation Treaty seminar in scenic Summit County, Colorado, next to Lake Dillon and surrounded by snow-capped mountains.  Maybe also attend an optional half-day program specifically directed to docketing of the PCT.  Tuesday, June 25 to Thursday, June 27, 2024.

• • Get $90 off the 2½-day class if you book by Tuesday, June 11 – coupon code BL0603A
  • Get $36 off the half-day course if you book by Tuesday, June 11 – coupon code BL0603B
  • Get $126 off both courses if you book by Tuesday, June 11 – coupon code BL0603C

For more information, or to register, click here.

Attend a 2½-day live in-person Patent Cooperation Treaty seminar in scenic Summit County, Colorado, next to Lake Dillon and surrounded by snow-capped mountains.  Maybe also attend an optional half-day program specifically directed to docketing of the PCT.  Tuesday, June 25 to Thursday, June 27, 2024.

• • Get $100 off the 2½-day class if you book by May 18 – coupon code Z4GJFQJA
  • Get $40 off the half-day course if you book by May 18 – coupon code DXRLPGND
  • Get $140 off both courses if you book by May 18 – coupon code EPXOGTH0

For more information, or to register, click here.

(Update:  the USPTO did fix the defect, but it took three months, and the USPTO did not do me the courtesy of letting me know, see blog article.)

This past Monday, February 5, 2024, was the big day that the USPTO launched its Assignment Center.

The USPTO failed to do any customer-side alpha or beta testing prior to launch day, despite having been invited to do so on November 12, 2023 (blog article).

When the USPTO belatedly revealed some of its training materials on January 29, 2024 (blog article), I predicted (see it here) that it would turn out that USPTO’s software developers had failed to handle correctly any PCT application that had been filed in a Receiving Office other than RO/US.

Sure enough, when the USPTO launched its Assignment Center on February 5, my prediction was fulfilled.  It was impossible to record an assignment against any PCT application that had been filed in a Receiving Office other than RO/US.

The Assignment Branch lists two ways to get tech support for bugs in Ass. Center.  A first way to get tech support is to send an email to assignmentcenter@uspto.gov .  I did that on Monday, February 5.  Four days have passed and nobody at the USPTO has answered that email.  Nor, during those four days, did anybody at the USPTO fix the bug reported in that email.

A second way to get tech support is to place a telephone call to the Assignment Branch at +1-571-272-3350.  I did that bright and early on Tuesday, February 6 (blog article).  I waited on hold for some twenty minutes, eventually reaching a human being who claimed to be wholly unable to provide tech support, but who offered to “open a ticket”.  So I received ticket number 1-849780117.  Three days have passed and nobody at the USPTO has gotten back to me on that ticket.  Nor, during those three days, did anybody at the USPTO fix the bug reported in that ticket.

Bright and early on Tuesday, February 6, I left a voice mail message for the manager of the Assignment Branch, a Joyce R. Johnson.  I left a detailed voicemail message.  Three days have passed and she has not returned my call.  Nor, during those three days, did anybody at the USPTO fix the bug reported in that voicemail message to the manager.

 

(Update:  there is still no responsiveness three days later, see blog article.  Further update:  the USPTO finally fixed this in May of 2024 but did not do me the courtesy of letting me know, see blog article.)

The Assignment Branch is failing to provide acceptable tech support for its new Assignment Center.  Continue reading “No responsiveness from the Assignment Branch on defect in Assignment Center”