USPTO Getting with the Digital Times!
By Heather Faucher | Posted on July 28, 2009 | Filed Under Patents
Last week, the United States patent and Trademark Office (the USPTO) announced that it was implementing the e-Office Action program after the successful completion of its pilot project. Under this program, patent filers will receive electronic notices of online communications via e-mail, instead of paper correspondence through snail mail. How does this system work?
It’s as easy as point and click! Those participating in the program are sent a e-mail whenever new communications from the USPTO are available, and then they can access and download those communications via Private PAIR, the patent application information retrieval system. This system allows patent applicants electronic access to their entire file history for their applications.
In the USPTO’s press release, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Acting Director of the USPTO John Doll had this to say: “We received very positive feedback from applicants who participated in the pilot program. Not only have we dramatically reduced paper processing and mailing costs but also expedited notification allowing applicants to take full advantage of their time period for reply to an office action.”
What other benefits does this new electronic system provide? First, it cuts down on the possibility of lost or delayed mail sent through the postal system. It also makes it faster and easier for applicants to process and docket USPTO correspondence electronically, translating to reduced processing costs. A win-win situation for both the USPTO and patent applicants! Then of course it speeds up the whole process. During the pilot, participants retrieved office communications several days faster than they would have using postal mail.
For now, participation in the e-Office Action program is not mandatory. Those eligible for voluntary participation include any registered attorney or agent of record, or pro se inventor who is a named inventor, in a patent application associated with a customer number. Even then, applicants aren’t locked in–they are free to opt-out of the e-Office Action program at any time and return to receiving office communications through the postal mail.
After years of doing things the “old way,” it’s nice to see the USPTO getting with the digital times!
If you want to patent it yourself, you’re in luck. Online options like these make it easier than ever.
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Tags: patent attorneys, patent your invention, patenting inventions, Patents, uspto
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