By Donald Zuhn --
On Thursday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a reminder notice to all registered patent attorneys and agents to update their contact information via the Office's new online registration system. Patent Docs first reported on the new online registration system last summer.
According to the Patent Office's notice, each patent practitioner should begin by checking the "Patent Attorney/Agent Search" page of the USPTO website before March 1, 2009 to ensure that the practitioner's business mailing address is correct. If a practitioner's business address is incorrect, the practitioner should download and complete a "Change of Address for Registered Patent Attorneys and Agents" form and mail the completed form to: Mail Stop OED, Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450.
If a practitioner does not find his or her name on Office's roster of registered attorneys and agents, the reminder notice states that the practitioner is not authorized to practice before the USPTO in patent cases, and notes that the practitioner's name may have been removed pursuant to 37 C.F.R. §§ 10.11(b) or 11.11 for lack of response to a previous survey or communication from the OED. The Office's reminder notice contains detailed instructions for resolving situations in which a practitioner believes he or she should be listed on the roster.
In the second phase of online registration, the OED will separately mail passwords and user identifications to all practitioners for which it has a correct (or corrected) mailing address. The two mailings will be sent out after March 1, 2009. Once practitioners have received their password and user identification, they will be able to change their address, telephone number, and e-mail address by signing in at the "On-Line Change of Address for Practitioners" page of the USPTO website. The Office notes that to avoid unsolicited spamming and communications, practitioner e-mail addresses will not be made public by the Office.
The Office's notice states that the new online registration system is being implemented in order to help eliminate processing errors associated with the practitioner roster, reduce losses due to mailings to incorrect addresses, and ensure that practitioners receive critical notices and confirmations from the USPTO. The Office intends to use the collected contact information to communicate with practitioners -- including providing information about future annual practitioner maintenance fees (see "Annual Fee Announced for Registered Practitioners"). The notice also reminds practitioners that under 37 C.F.R. § 11.11(a), they are required to update their contact information on the roster within 30 days of any change.
With respect to the annual practitioner maintenance fee the Office will begin assessing next year, the Office reminder notes that in response to suggestions from law firms and companies, such entities will be able to make a single payment of the annual fee for all practitioners who are members of their firms or companies. In order to ensure that firm and company payments are properly attributed to the correct practitioners, the Office is recommending that all practitioners within a particular firm or company use the same name in their contact information. Additional information regarding annual practitioner fee payments by law firms and companies can be found in the Office's reminder notice.
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