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An open letter to Director Vidal and Commissioner Udupa about DOCX

Here is a letter that I sent today to the Director and the Commissioner:

Hello Director Vidal and Commissioner Udupa and Deputy Commissioner Seidel:

By now there have been many webinars scheduled and presented that are intended to help the patent community understand the risks of filing US patent applications using the USPTO’s DOCX initiative.  These include:

        • Patent Center DOCX Filing: What you Need to Know, March 10, 2023, Schwegman, Lundberg & Woessner
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of Microsoft Word, April 18, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of non-Microsoft word processors, April 18, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of Microsoft Word, May 10, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Professional Liability Risks of Filing in DOCX – for users of non-Microsoft word processors, May 12, 2023, Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC
        • Terrifying Tales of the USPTO’s DOCX Filing System, May 23, 2023, Fitch Even

You can see the May 10 recording here (1:29 in length) and you can download the presentation materials here.

I invite you and request you to let me know if you think there were any factual inaccuracies in the May 10 webinar.  If there were any inaccuracies in that webinar, I will publish corrections.

Carl Oppedahl

Oppedahl Patent Law Firm LLC

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Who would find these four webinars to be of interest?

click to purchase

(Update:  now you can sign up for the four webinars! )

At this link you can see a plan for four webinars.  The goal is to cover the PCT forms that PCT applicants and agents receive most often.  Each webinar will be 90 minutes in length.  The goal is to cover the forms listed and discussed in Oppedahl on PCT Forms and PCT Docketing, shown at right.

The question is, would anybody actually want to attend these four webinars?  That’s what I would like to know.  I invite people to post a comment below.

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Recordings now available for May 10 and 12 webinars about DOCX risks

Hello readers!  On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 I presented a webinar about the malpractice risks of e-filing a patent application in DOCX format under the USPTO’s DOCX initiative, for those who use Microsoft Word.  On Friday, May 12, 2023 I presented a webinar about the malpractice risks of e-filing a patent application in DOCX format under the USPTO’s DOCX initiative, for those who use non-Microsoft word processors.

The webinars got recorded, and the recordings have now been edited into usable format for later viewing.  You can see the May 10 recording here (1:29 in length) and you can download the presentation materials here.  You can see the May 12 recording here (1:10 in length) and you can download the presentation materials here.

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Recording now available for May 10 webinar about DOCX risks

Hello readers!  On Wednesday, May 10, 2023 I presented a webinar about the malpractice risks of e-filing a patent application in DOCX format under the USPTO’s DOCX initiative.  The webinar got recorded, and the recording has now been edited into usable format for later viewing.  You can see the recording here and you can download the presentation materials here.  (Update:  the recording of the May 12 webinar is also now available.)

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USPTO breaks its promise about protecting trademark applicant email addresses

The USPTO requires each trademark applicant to reveal its own email address when filing a US trademark application.  The USPTO promises that if the applicant is represented by an attorney, then only the attorney’s email address will be revealed to the public, and:

Tthe email address listed in the owner field for trademark applicants who are represented by a qualified U.S. attorney will not be publicly viewable.

(TMEP § 803.05(b)).  But, rather predictably, the USPTO has broken this promise.  It turns out that the USPTO reveals the applicant email address to the public.  Continue reading “USPTO breaks its promise about protecting trademark applicant email addresses”

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The State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania becomes even more trendy, modern and up-to-date

On July 1, 2023, the State Patent Bureau of the Republic of Lithuania will become even more trendy, modern and up-to-date.  That is the date that the Lithuanian patent office will commence participation in the DAS system in four new ways:

    • as a Depositing Office for purposes of national industrial design applications,
    • as a Depositing Office for purposes of national trademark applications,
    • as an Accessing Office for purposes of national industrial design applications, and
    • as an Accessing Office for purposes of national trademark applications.

The Lithuanian patent office has already been a participant in the DAS system since January 1, 2023 in these ways:

    • as a Depositing Office for purposes of national patent applications;
    • as an Accessing Office for purposes of national patent applications;  and
    • as an Accessing Office for purposes of PCT patent applications.

The two-letter code (ISO-3166 code) for this Office is “LT”.  The web site of the Lithuanian patent office may be seen here.

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Terrifying Tales of the USPTO’s DOCX Filing System

(Update:  a recording of the Terrifying Tales webinar is now available.)  Those who are considering filing a patent application at the USPTO in DOCX should inform themselves of the professional liability risks of doing so.  A first way to learn about this is to watch recordings of my recent webinars about this.  A second way will be to attend Terrifying Tales of the USPTO’s DOCX Filing System, presented by two partners in the Fitch Even law firm.  The webinar, which is free of charge, will take place on May 23.  To find out more about that webinar, or to register, click here.

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Sign up for EPO webinar: PCT for US paralegals and patent agents

If you are a PCT user, you need to register for a webinar which EPO will present on May 9, 2023.  You can read about it, and you can register, here.

The webinar will take place starting at 10AM Mountain Time on Tuesday, May 9.  The webinar is free of charge.

The European Patent Office (EPO) is offering a 1½-hour online seminar for US paralegals and agents dedicated to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). This seminar is an opportunity to find out more about the services provided by the EPO and the latest developments in the PCT system as well as getting practical information on the related EPO’s online services.  Topics to be discussed include:

    • PCT procedure before the EPO as International Authority including practical examples
    • Payments and Reimbursement
    • New secure online access
    • Online filing possibilities
    • Electronic Mailbox for PCT agents/applicants
    • Questions & Answers

I think that for most US attendees, the most interesting topic will be EPO’s upcoming enhancements and improvements to its “electronic mailbox” system.  This is the system that permits the applicant to receive ISA/EP and IPEA/EP communications instantly rather than having to wait for such communications to arrive via postal mail.  This includes things like the ISR/WO and an Invitation to Pay Additional Fees.

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Professional liability risks of filing in DOCX — two webinars

The USPTO has by now presented over 145 webinars, by now every two days or so, containing pants-on-fire lies about “the DOCX standard” and how safe it supposedly is to file US patent applications according to the USPTO’s DOCX initiative. As of the present time, USPTO’s stated plan is to start charging a $400 surcharge on June 30, 2023 for those filers who fail to use the DOCX initiative.   As you can see here, many members of the patent filing community feel that the USPTO has not done a good job of communicating pros and cons for an applicant or practitioner when e-filing in DOCX format.

I presented two webinars recently about the professional liability risks of filing in DOCX.  You might wonder whether the people who attended the webinar on April 18, 2023 think that you should attend the upcoming webinars?  The answer is “yes”.  You can see their evaluation questionnaire answers here.

Watch a recording of either or both of the webinars to get the other side of the story — to appreciate the professional liability risks of filing in DOCX.  Continue reading “Professional liability risks of filing in DOCX — two webinars”