Hello, dear readers. I have just published three new articles about various home automation challenges and successes:
If you have comments on any of the three articles, please post them below.
“They’ve cut us off at the knees!” — USPTO call center employee
“They’ve cut us off at the knees!” is what I heard a few days ago from a USPTO representative in one of the USPTO’s call centers. Continue reading ““They’ve cut us off at the knees!” — USPTO call center employee”
Unacceptable hold times at the USPTO Application Assistance Unit
About half an hour ago I picked up the phone and placed a call to the (misnamed) Application Assistance Unit at 571-272-4000. The robot voice said my estimated wait time was 124 minutes, and that there were 88 callers ahead of me. Half an hour has passed and the robot now says there are 75 calls ahead of me. Continue reading “Unacceptable hold times at the USPTO Application Assistance Unit”
USPTO fails to handle system failure well
As I reported in an earlier blog article, Trademark Center is broken for trademark applications in which the mark is a logo. USPTO is failing to handle this failure well. Continue reading “USPTO fails to handle system failure well”
USPTO’s Trademark Center is broken for logo applications
January 18, 2025 was the day that the USPTO shut down TEAS for the filing of new US trademark applications. Starting that day, the only way to file a US trademark application has been Trademark Center.
And now, as of a couple of days ago, Trademark Center has been broken for trademark applications in which the mark is a logo (rather than standard characters). The practitioner prepares the application and sends it to the client for review and possible e-signature. The client clicks on the link to review the application, and within seconds, Trademark Center jumps abruptly to its main page. It is impossible for the client to review or e-sign the application.
This was first reported two days ago by an alert trademark practitioner in the E-Trademarks Listerv, which is a community of over a thousand trademark practitioners.
Vegetative electron microscopy
I am fascinated to learn that the term “vegetative electron microscopy” is starting to pop up in published academic papers. And that there is no such thing as “vegetative electron microscopy”. It seems that some early AI systems picked up this term as a sort of OCR scanning error. And now lots of present-day AI systems keep repeating the term to each other. And now maybe the term will never go away.
A Tale of Two Systems
The DAS system offers a convenient and inexpensive way for an applicant to perfect a priority claim under Article 4 of the Paris Convention. WIPO implements this well and the USPTO implements this poorly. Continue reading “A Tale of Two Systems”
IDSs just got more expensive
On January 19, 2025 the USPTO put a new rule into effect that makes IDSs more expensive. Patent practitioners will need to charge clients more money for filing of IDSs. And new government fees will need to be paid with some IDSs. Continue reading “IDSs just got more expensive”
The USPTO’s PCT Receiving Office needs to join DAS
More than five years ago the patent community asked the USPTO to make its PCT Receiving Office a Depositing Office in the DAS system. And even now, more than five years later, the USPTO has not yet done so. Continue reading “The USPTO’s PCT Receiving Office needs to join DAS”
How to reach a USPTO person if you can’t reach them by phone
In a previous blog article I described that it seems all of the phones at the USPTO are broken for incoming calls. Here is a practice tip.
If the person’s phone number starts “571-272”, then change the “272” to “273”. This yields a telephone number that is probably that person’s private fax number. You can then send a fax and ask the person to call you back.