By Donald Zuhn --
USPTO Enhances Transaction Security for Deposit Account Authorizations
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced today via a USPTO Alert e-mail that effective Wednesday, March 15, 2017, any charge to a deposit account appearing on any paper filed by mail, facsimile transmission, or via the EFS-Web, Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS), or other USPTO storefronts, must be signed by a person listed in the USPTO's Financial Manager system as having fee payer permissions. The Office announcement notes that any paper containing an authorization to charge a deposit account that is signed by anyone other than a deposit account fee payer in Financial Manager will not be accepted and the fee will not be considered paid. In an Official Gazette notice published on February 14, 2017, the Office indicated that the above change was being implemented in an effort to further secure deposit account transactions. Additional information regarding the above change can be found in the Office's OG notice. Customers requiring assistance with the addition of users to their deposit accounts or with updating their Financial Manager permissions, can contact the Office by e-mail at FeesHelp@uspto.gov or by calling 800-786-9199 or 571-272-1000.
USPTO Announces 2017 National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees
In a post on the Director's Forum Blog, Commissioner for Patents Drew Hirshfeld noted that the National Inventors Hall of Fame, in partnership with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, had announced the 2017 National Inventors Hall of Fame inductees. According to the post, the criteria for induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame requires candidates to hold a U.S. patent that has contributed significantly to the nation's welfare and the advancement of science and the useful arts. The fifteen new inductees to the Hall, and their contributions, are as follows:
• Iver Anderson -- Lead-Free Solder
• Don Arney -- Bambi Bucket® for Aerial Firefighting
• Carolyn Bertozzi -- Bioorthogonal Chemistry
• Earle Dickson -- Band-Aid® Adhesive Bandage
• Harold Froehlich -- Alvin Deep-Sea Submersible
• Haren Gandhi -- Automotive Exhaust Catalysts
• Eli Harari -- Floating Gate EEPROM
• Howard Head -- Laminate Ski; Oversized Tennis Racket
• Beatrice Hicks -- Device for Sensing Gas Density
• Allene Jeanes -- Dextran Production; Xanthan Gum
• Marshall Jones -- Industrial Lasers
• Tom Leighton -- Content Delivery Network
• Daniel Lewin -- Content Delivery Network
• Frances Ligler -- Portable Optical Biosensors
• Augustine Sackett -- Drywall
Additional information about the new Hall inductees can be found at the National Inventors Hall of Fame website. The new inductees will be honored in a two-day event, which kicks off with an illumination ceremony at the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia on May 3, 2017, and then is followed by the 45th Annual National Inventors Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on May 4 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. The National Inventors Hall of Fame is located in the Madison Building on the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia.
USPTO Announces Availability of New DCM Tool
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced today via a Patent Alert e-mail that a new interim solution is now available for the Digital Certificate Manager (DCM). The new interim solution, which has been available for EFS-Web and Private PAIR authentication since last fall, provides a plug-in-free option for users to authenticate and manage their Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) certificates, and will expand browser options until a new, permanent solution is in place. The existing Java Applet authentication method will continue to be available. The interim solution, which uses Java Web Start technology, allows users to authenticate into EFS-Web, Private PAIR, and DCM utilizing their current digital certificate while providing users with more flexibility in browser choice by reducing the dependency on the Java Applet plug-in. Users wishing to use the Java Web Start authentication method must have version 8 of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) software installed. Customers requiring assistance with the new interim solution should contact the Patent EBC by e-mail at ebc@uspto.gov or by calling 1-866-217-9197.
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