PAIR Announcements

Advisory (18Sept2012):  New Column on Private PAIR Outgoing Correspondence Screen

The Private PAIR Customer Number Outgoing Correspondence Search result screen has been modified to display a new column labeled “Viewed By”.  This column displays the PKI user’s name of the “Earliest Image View Date” viewer.  These two column entries will be displayed when new outgoing correspondence is viewed or downloaded the first time, either from the outgoing correspondence search result screen or via the Image File Wrapper tab. 

Only a Private PAIR user, whose PKI certificate is associated to the correspondence address customer number of the application, will trigger the aforementioned entries to display.  Any subsequent viewings by the same Private PAIR user or another Private PAIR user, whose PKI certificate is associated to the correspondence address customer number of the application, will not update the display.

Advisory (17Sept2012): Public PAIR, Private PAIR and Supplemental Examination Proceeding Availability

A new application series, 96, has been added for supplemental examination proceedings.   This new series has new availability conditions in Public and Private PAIR.  The following rules apply:

Public PAIR:

1. A supplemental examination  proceeding is unavailable in Public PAIR until a  filing date is granted
2. Supplemental examination proceedings without a filing date will be unavailable within the child continuity data section of a patent

Private PAIR:

1. If a supplemental examination proceeding is not associated to a Customer Number listed under the Private PAIR user’s PKI certificate,  the supplemental examination proceeding will be unavailable until a filing date is granted.
2. If a supplemental examination proceeding is not associated to a Customer Number listed under the Private PAIR user’s PKI certificate, the  supplemental examination proceeding will be unavailable within the child continuity data section of a patent.
3. If a supplemental examination proceeding is associated to a Customer Number listed under the Private PAIR user’s PKI certificate, the supplemental examination proceeding will be available in Private PAIR at all times, with or without a filing date.
4. If a supplemental examination proceeding is associated to a Customer Number listed under the Private PAIR user’s PKI certificate, the supplemental examination proceeding will be available within the child continuity data section of a patent, with or without a filing date.

Advisory (30July2012): Delivery of U.S. Pre-Grant Search Results to the EPO Without Delay Requires Timely Consent From Applicants

Current EPO regulations require that search results from an application, to which a European patent application filed on or after January 1, 2011 claims priority, must be filed with the EPO without delay after the search results are made available to applicants. See Amended Rule 141(1) EPC (European Patent Convention).  For the time being, U.S. applicants are exempt from personally providing search results for a U.S. priority application to the EPO as a result of an arrangement worked out between the USPTO and the EPO, whereby the USPTO will electronically deliver search results from priority U.S. applications to the EPO, as a no-charge service to applicants.  See Electronic Delivery of Search Results From the United States Patent and Trademark Office to the European Patent Office, 76 FR 82279 (December 30, 2011).  

Maintenance of the exemption, however, is dependent upon delivery of search results by the USPTO to the EPO as soon as they become available, including when search results are available prior to publication of the U.S. application.  Because 35 U.S.C. 122 prohibits the USPTO from providing information about an as-yet unpublished application to a third party without the applicant’s consent, timely delivery of pre-publication search results requires applicant cooperation in providing the USPTO with the proper consent to release the search result information to the EPO.  Failure of applicants to provide the USPTO with the required consent will prevent the USPTO from delivering the search results in a timely fashion and could result in EPO rescinding the exemption, which would require all U.S. applicants to provide the search result information to the EPO at their own time and expense.

Therefore, applicants are strongly urged to timely file the Certification and Authorization form PTO/SB/69 (available at http://www.uspto.gov/forms/sb0069.pdf) in each application that is intended to form the basis for a claim of priority to a corresponding application filed with the EPO.  This form provides applicant’s consent for the USPTO to deliver to the EPO the search results from an unpublished U.S. application.  Applicants should file the form prior to filing a European application that claims priority to the U.S. application in order for search results to be delivered to the EPO without delay should they become available prior to publication of the U.S. application.

When filing form PTO/SB/69 using EFS-Web, applicants should be careful to select the correct document description “PTO/SB/69 - Authorize EPO Access to Search Results,” which can be found under the General Transmittal category.  Identifying form PTO/SB/69 using any other document description will significantly delay or prevent delivery of the search results from an unpublished U.S. application to the EPO.

Advisory (03MAY2012)  Patents Alert to EFS-Web and Private PAIR Users: Please Do Not Install Java 7

On May 2, Oracle Corporation announced that Java 7 update 4 (7u4) is now the new default Java version.  If you have the Java Update feature enabled on your computer, you may be prompted to update to the latest version. At this time, EFS-Web and Private PAIR do not support Java 7.

USPTO recommends that you do not upgrade to Java 7 until further notice.  We are aware of the problem and will continue to work on the issue until it is resolved.

If you encounter any problems, please call the Patent EBC at (866) 217-9197 (toll free) or send email to EBC@uspto.gov.

Advisory (6APR2012): Problem with Firefox and older Java versions

On April 2, Mozilla Foundation announced that the Firefox browser would start blocking older versions of the Java plug-in from running.

When accessing EFS-Web for Registered eFilers and Private PAIR with Firefox, an error message may appear on the Authentication Page stating: Java Not Enabled.

USPTO recommends that you upgrade to the latest version of Java, which is Version 6 Update 32.  Please visit Java.com using your Firefox browser, click on “Free Java Download”, and follow the installation steps provided.

For assistance, please call the Patent EBC at (866) 217-9197 (toll free) or send email to EBC@uspto.gov.  

Advisory (22SEP2011)  Continuity Data in Public PAIR and Private PAIR

Due to system limitations, some domestic benefit data is omitted from the "Continuity Data" tab in PAIR for a U.S. application which is a national phase or continuation of a PCT international application which was not filed with the receiving office of the United States (RO/US).  The current domestic benefit data for a particular U.S. application is indicated on the most recent filing receipt or bibliographic data sheet contained in the Image File Wrapper.