Category: PCT

The dates have been set for the 21^st annual AIPLA PCT Seminar.  The Seminar will take place in Arlington, Virginia on Monday and Tuesday, July 24 and 25, 2017.

Save the date for this seminar.  There’s nothing quite like this seminar, which has representatives of patent offices as well as experienced private practitioners.  Here are comments from two who attended:

“Each and every presenter was incredibly knowledgeable and provided us with invaluable information.”

“Excellent panel.”

Have you attended one of the twenty previous AIPLA PCT Seminars?  Did you find it helpful?  Please post a comment below.

There are quite a few upcoming opportunities to learn about the Patent Cooperation Treaty:

• February 23, 2017 in San Jose, California
• March 9, 2017 in Alexandria, Virginia
• April 5-7, 2017 in Orlando, Florida
• June 8, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Continue reading “Opportunities to learn about the Patent Cooperation Treaty”

What goes up must come down, it seems.  

Continue reading “Some PCT search fees to drop on March 1, 2017”

As a reminder, many PCT searching authorities will have fee changes taking effect today.  You can read about them in my blog posting from a month ago.

The fees payable in US dollars for the services of various International Searching Authorities will change on January 1, 2017.  The following table lists the ISAs that are available to applicants filing in RO/US, ranked in descending order of cost for the first invention.

Continue reading “Searching Authority fee changes effective January 1, 2017”

This email came in today from someone (let’s call him “PY”) asking about PCT-PPH:

PY’s question is actually a very smart question.  First I will explain why this is a very smart question, and then I will offer a practical answer to the question.
Continue reading “ISA/US work product gets you on the Highway in the USPTO?”

WIPO offers a distance learning course called Introduction to the Patent Cooperation Treaty.  The course is free of charge.  My suggestion is that any person who is involved in providing services to clients relating to the PCT ought to take this course, pass the quizzes, and obtain the certificate of completion.  My suggestion extends to patent practitioners, paralegals, and administrative assistants.  I took the course just today and here is my certificate of completion.

To learn more or to register for the course, click here.  You can see more information about the course below. Continue reading “WIPO’s PCT distance learning course”

I’ll be speaking today with a 2016 PCT update.  This is for the Boulder County Bar Association.  It is at noon, at the offices of Lathrop & Gage, 4845 Pearl East Circle, Boulder, CO 80301.  (map)

Topics include Best Practices for carrying out e-filing, filing Demands, making changes in bibliographic data, and picking a Searching Authority.

You can register here.

The USPTO needs to be willing to consider requests for the restoration of the right of priority based upon the “due care” standard.  This will help US filers who missed the 12-month priority period, and whose foreign-filing plans include the European Patent Office or any of twenty-eight other patent offices that apply the “due care” standard.

US practitioners (including yours truly) have been asking USPTO to make this change for several years now.  in January of 2015, AIPLA asked USPTO make this change.  It is now October of 2016 and USPTO has still not made this change.  It is hoped that this blog article will serve as a reminder to the USPTO that this change is needed.  I will explain.

Continue reading “USPTO needs to accept “due care” restoration requests”