By Christopher P. Singer --
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office sent out a series of e-Commerce Alerts on February 10, 2009, announcing that the existing pilot e-Office Action program will be made permanent and available as an option to all applicants beginning this March. The USPTO has been maintaining the current pilot e-Office Action program for the past two years, and has gathered regular participant feedback in efforts to improve the program.
As we have previously reported (see "USPTO Begins the 'e-Office Action' Pilot Program" and "Patent Office Announces Update to E-Office Action Pilot Program"), participants in the e-Office Action program no longer receive the typical hardcopy paper correspondence related to a patent application that is sent by U.S. mail. The USPTO sends e-mail notifications to e-Office Action participants regarding new outgoing correspondence that are accessible in Private PAIR. Through this electronic notification system, correspondence from the USPTO can arrive to applicants up to three days faster as compared to hardcopy correspondence sent by mail.
The USPTO sent out an initial e-Alert, signed by Acting Commissioner for Patents, Peggy Focarino, announcing the anticipated March rollout of the e-Office action program to all applicants. Evidently, some confusion resulted from this e-Alert insofar as recipients were taking the announcement to mean that the e-Office Action program would require mandatory participation. After several people contacted the USPTO, the Office sent out a subsequent e-Alert, signed by Don Levin, Program Manager of the e-Commerce Division, which clarified that (a) participation in the program is optional, and (b) Office Actions will be sent out by U.S. mail unless you choose to participate in the e-Office Action program.
If you wish to learn more about participating in the e-Office Action program, the EBC asks that you send an e-mail with your questions or indicating your interest in the program to [email protected].
If you wish to learn more about participating in the e-Office Action program, the EBC asks that you send an e-mail with your questions or indicating your interest in the program to [email protected].
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