"Patent Center Beta is now available for all users. Patent Center is a new tool for electronic filing and management of patent applications in a single unified interface.
Patent Center and DOCX filing features:
• Single unified interface for patent applicants
• Use of existing USPTO.gov accounts and sponsorships
• Submission of the specification, claims, and abstract in a single DOCX document without the need to manually separate sections
• Elimination of user conversion from DOCX into a PDF for filing
• Security of documents through automatic DOCX metadata detection and scrubbing
• Practice filing in DOCX format in Patent Center training mode
Electronic filing provides multiple benefits, such as immediate routing of documents to USPTO internal systems, an acknowledgement receipt to show that the USPTO has received the submission, reduced manual processing and paper waste, elimination of wait times associated with conventional mailing, and the ability to save your submission package to complete, review, or submit at a later time.
We encourage you to provide feedback on Patent Center Beta by visiting the eMod IdeaScale. Additionally, you can send questions and comments to eMod@uspto.gov.
More information about Patent Center Beta is available on the Patent Center information page or you can register for an upcoming Patent Center Beta and DOCX training session.
For technical questions or assistance, please contact the Patent Electronic Business Center at ebc@uspto.gov or 866-217-9197."
Note this announcement arrived after all but April 21 and 23 USPTO training sessions had occurred. Also the USPTO plans to charge a $400 fee for non-DOCX applications. As a patent attorney, I think the USPTO has not shown any user benefit in filing an application in DOCX rather than PDF other than avoiding a fee. And early feedback from users is not favorable. Further electronic filing over paper is a red herring as both PDF and DOCX are electronic filing.
On April 27, the USPTO added training session dates but must r
- April 30: 1-2 pm ET
- May 4: 10:30-11:30 am ET
- May 6: 2-3 pm ET
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