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Time to file comments on DOCX yet again

(Update:  nine comments got filed.)

This has been a busy week for Federal Register notices by the USPTO that relate to the ill-fated DOCX patent application filing initiative.  We already knew about two Federal Register notices about this:

    • 88 FR 36956 dated June 6, 2023, blinking a fourth time on the start date for the $400 non-DOCX penalty, and
    • 88 FR 37036 dated June 6, 2023 blinking a second time on the ending date for the ability to file an “auxiliary PDF” file by which the applicant may try to protect against USPTO errors in rendering DOCX files.

Now comes a third Federal Register notice:

    • 88 FR 37039 dated June 6, 2023, requesting comments on USPTO’s estimates of the burden that the DOCX application filing initative will impose upon applicants.

In this blog article I briefly discuss this third FR notice.  In a later blog article I will discuss this third FR notice in greater detail.  Continue reading “Time to file comments on DOCX yet again”

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USPTO blinks a second time on auxiliary PDF with DOCX filing

(Corrected as to the name of the movie.)

A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, says a beloved song in the movie Mary Poppins.  In the case of the ill-conceived DOCX initiative at the USPTO, the spoonful of sugar offered by the USPTO to try to induce filers to swallow the bitter-tasting DOCX initiative has been what it calls the “auxiliary PDF”.   The USPTO has now blinked for a second time on the auxiliary PDF.  Continue reading “USPTO blinks a second time on auxiliary PDF with DOCX filing”

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Recordings of many recent ePCT webinars are now available

I am by now part way through a series of sixteen webinars about the ePCT system.  Thirteen of the webinars have been presented, and there are three more webinars that you can register for (click here to register).  We were successful in recording the first thirteen webinars and the recordings have been edited into presentable form and have been posted for viewing.  So if you missed any of the first thirteen webinars, you can view the recording.  Here are the topics and links for viewing the thirteen recordings that have been posted so far. Continue reading “Recordings of many recent ePCT webinars are now available”

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A second false statement on the USPTO web site

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(Update June 20, 2023 — the false statement has returned to the USPTO web site — see blog article.)

Yesterday I reported (blog article) on a first false statement on the USPTO web site.  Here is a second false statement that appeared on the USPTO web site as recently as two days ago (screen shot above):

The USPTO strongly recommends submitting Specification, Claims, and/or Abstract in DOCX format which provides better data accuracy.

Continue reading “A second false statement on the USPTO web site”

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A first false statement on the USPTO web site

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Here is a false statement from the Patentcenter web site of the USPTO (screen shot above right):

Patent Center has 100% of the functionality of EFS-Web, Public and Private PAIR, and is available to all users for electronic filing and management of patent applications.

This false statement on the Patentcenter web site has been reported to the USPTO as EBC ticket number 1-831173674.  This is Patentcenter trouble ticket number CP141 (click here to see it).

On the Patentcenter Trouble Ticket page, we list dozens of reasons why this statement is false.  Here are just a few of them …  Continue reading “A first false statement on the USPTO web site”

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Proper etiquette for Tesla EV charging

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Test your mastery of Tesla EV charging etiquette with this quick quiz.  If you arrive at a Tesla supercharging station and three of six charging ports are already in use, as shown in this diagram, where is the polite place for you to plug in?  Should you choose the place that is shown as “park here”?  The correct answer might not be what you think.  Continue reading “Proper etiquette for Tesla EV charging”

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Being on Route 66

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Route 66 is one of the most famous roads in the US.  It originally ran from Chicago, Illinois, through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona before terminating in Santa Monica in Los Angeles County, California, covering a total of 2,448 miles (3,940 km). Established in 1926, by 1938 it became the first highway in the US to be paved along its entire length.  Continue reading “Being on Route 66”

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A pilgrimage to Path 27

As many readers know, nearly all electrical power transmission lines are three-phase AC (alternating current).  When you look up at one of the towers, you see three (or a multiple of three) transmission conductors.  In the US there are are only a few direct-current (DC) transmission lines.  One of them is called Path 27.  I first read about Path 27 about seventeen years ago, when I was writing the patent application that became US patent number 8183714.  Recently I was able to do something that I had wanted to do for a very long time — I visited one of the massive ground electrodes for Path 27.  Continue reading “A pilgrimage to Path 27”