(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.
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.
For more information, or to register, click here.
Can the title of a not-yet-published US patent application reveal technical data? Read on to see the USPTO talks out of two sides of its mouth, reaching both a “yes” and a “no” answer to this question.
Continue reading “USPTO flip-flops on whether a patent application title reveals technical data”
(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”
Do you use ISA/EP? Do you use an EPO mailbox to receive ISR/WOs from ISA/EP? Do you use an EPO smart card to log in at the mailbox? Then you need to migrate from a smart card to a time-based one-time password form of two-factor authentication. And you need to do it before the end of 2024. One way to learn how to do this is by attending an EPO webinar that will take place soon. Continue reading “Webinar: Two-factor authentication for those who use ISA/EP”
Recently I presented four webinars about PCT Forms. The webinars were recorded, and the recordings are now available here.
Hello dear readers. The people at WIPO who handle the PCT system are hoping to do a better job for their users, and so they have posted a questionnaire. If you make use of ePCT, or if you use the services of RO/IB, you can share your thoughts through this questionnnaire. Here is the invitation:
Starting in March 2023, the RO/IB has been working as a Pilot Team on enhancing our customer services. We need again your support to ensure that we meet your expectations. We also invite you to share your ideas to help us go further. Please complete the survey below and feel free to forward it to anyone in your PCT community. Please click here and start the survey. It will take around 2 minutes.
Last week was webinar number 1 in our series of four webinars about PCT forms. The recording of that first webinar is now available. You can see the link to the recording on our page https://blog.oppedahl.com/four-webinars-about-inbound-pct-forms/ .
If you have not already done so, I invite you to sign up for the second, third and fourth webinars using the links on that web page.
