Public User's Meeting
Public Records Division/Public Information Services Division
Public User's Meeting
November 21, 2007 2:00 p.m.
Jefferson Building Conference Center
The Public User's Meeting was held at 2:00 p.m. in the 1st floor conference room 1D70/1D80 of the Jefferson Building at 500 Dulany Street on the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia. Martha Sneed, Manager of PISD, chaired the meeting. There were 4 members of the public in attendance.
Announcements
PAIR and TDR have been very unstable over the past several days. The systems are being monitored closely to try to prevent additional interruptions of service.
The Public Search Facility will be closing at 6:00 p.m. and the Trademark Search Facility at 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 21 due to the USPTO Thanksgiving early dismissal.
Public Search Facility (PSF)
Lighting: Ceiling back lighting on the 2nd floor has been darkened because of distracting and ongoing strobe effect. Initial feedback from public is positive.
After last Public User meeting where additional suggestions on lighting were made, a third option for 2nd floor lighting is being costed out. This option would have no overhead lighting over a large number of concurrent workstations on the 2nd floor, instead of a checkerboard pattern or an every other row pattern. The 1st floor will have the checkerboard pattern for lighting. One piece of electrical work needs to be completed before making this change final.
User Comment:
Consider removing selected fluorescent bulbs in the PSF to reduce the amount of direct lighting or install different light fixtures. The light fixtures in the PSF are not appropriate for the type of space where they are located.
UPWS: There was a discussion about updating the content of the UPWS on-line bulletin board. A user also suggested that announcements be sent using an e-mail messaging system, or an e-mail list serve. OPM uses such a system for announcing early dismissals and OPA also uses a similar messaging system. The system used by OPA will be investigated to determine if PSF might be able to piggyback on their system or adapt it for exclusive PSF use.
EAST: A public user reported that he discovered that an autosave function allowed for the possibility of a different user calling up searches saved in an autosave workspace. Doug Salser will investigate to see if there is a way of systemically preventing this problem. In the mean time, it was recommended that users delete searches and reboot as a method for clearing the cache. A user also asked about the expectation of privacy when using EAST? A response will be provided.
Handicapped Access: The glass doors on the 2nd floor do not allow access for handicapped users. It was suggested that push plates replace the crash bars that are currently there. Also suggested that second floor restroom not have a handle, but rather a push open from inside and outside.
Trademark Search Facility Update
The microfilm project for word documents is halfway completed. On 11/26, the 1st set of trademark design microfilm is due to be received for quality checking, with particular attention ascertaining that the paper file order is being maintained. An additional group of documents will be picked up for microfilming at that time.
Public Records Update
Public Records has converted archival storage of patent and trademark assignment recordation notices from microfilm to DVD format, thereby eliminating the microfilm copy that goes to the Public Search Facility. The public was advised that the information continues to be available on the Assignments Historical Database (AHD) that is accessible on UPWS.
The meeting was adjourned at 2:35 p.m.
Note: Next meeting is December 18, 2007 at 2:00 pm in the Jefferson building conference room 1D70/1D80.
