FINAL for 10-12-16 Presentation Docketing Foreign Filing ... · Mitigating Foreign Filing Misses...
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Transcript of FINAL for 10-12-16 Presentation Docketing Foreign Filing ... · Mitigating Foreign Filing Misses...
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DeadlyMistakes:MissingParisConventionandPCT
NationalPhaseForeignFilingDeadlinesandHowtoAvoidThem
uithe ReliabilityofyourIPDatayourIPDataIntegrity:
HowtoRuintheReliabilityofyourIPData
October12,2016
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DeadlyMistakes:MissingParisConventionandPCTFilingDeadlines
•Presentersandpanelists:o AnnMcCrackin,President,BlackHillsIP,LLCo ZhakalazkyCarrion,DocketingManager,SchwegmanLundberg&Woessner,P.A.
o KristiWheeler,ForeignParalegal,SchwegmanLundberg&Woessner,P.A.
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WhyisMissingaParisConventionorPCTFilingDeadline soDeadly?
• ThesedatesarelargelydeterminedbyrequirementsoftheParisConventionandPatentCooperationTreaty• Forthemostpart,thesedatesareextremelyunforgiving!!• Itisnotpossibletogetanextensioninmostcountries• Itisnotpossibletorevive/reinstatetogetasecondchance• Thereisessentially norecourseonceyoumissadeadline
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WhyisMissingaParisConventionorPCTFilingDeadline soDeadly?
• Inshort,missingParisConventionandPCTdeadlinescanresultintheirrecoverableandpermanentlossofforeignrightsinallinventionsdisclosedinthesubjectapplication• Iftheinventionisfundamentalorotherwisehighlyvaluable,thelossofrightscanresultinasubstantialloss
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ParisConventionDates
• TheParisConventionTreatygivesanapplicantthebenefitoftheprioritydateofanoriginalfilingintheapplicant’shomecountry• Suchapplicationsmustbefiledwithin
o 6monthsfromthefilingdateofadesignpatento 12monthsfromthefilingdateofaprovisionalorutilitypatents
• Thereareabout26countriesthatarememberoftheParisCnventionbutnotthePCTsuchasArgentina,Bahamas,Lebanon,Venezuela,etc.o http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/paris_non_pct.html
• TaiwanisnotamemberoftheParisconvention howeverbytreatyitdoesrecognizepriorityclaimstoUSapplications
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PatentCooperationTreaty(PCT)
• ThePCTgivesanapplicantthebenefitoftheprioritydateofanoriginalfilingintheapplicant’shomecountryandpreservestherighttofilelaterincurrently151countries•PCTapplicationsmustbefiledwithin12monthsoftheearliestfilingdateinordertoclaimpriority
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PatentCooperationTreaty(PCT)
• ThePCTNationalPhaseFilingDatesareasfollows:o…30monthsfromthefirst-filedpriority,countrieslike:Brazil,Canada*,Chile,China*,Israel,Japan,Mexico,Peru,Philippines,Thailand.
Ø *withrelativelysmallextensionfees,Canadaallows42monthsandChinaallows32months,inChinathefullapplicationMUSTbetranslatedattimeoffiling.
o…31monthsfromthefirst-filedpriority,countrieslike:Australia,Europe,India,RepublicofKorea,Singapore,SouthAfrica,
http://www.wipo.int/pct/en/texts/time_limits.html
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Category1:Errorsoromissionsmadeindocketingdeadlines
•Wrongprioritydate(s)enteredforapplication• Commonsourcesoferrors:
o Confusionresultingfrommultipleprioritydates(e.g.,multipleprovisionalappsrolledupintooneregularfiling)
oWrongdatesuppliedbyfilingattorneyorparalegaltodocketingdepartment
o Simpledataentryerrors– wrongdateenteredfromanotherdocument/communication
o Incorrectlyreadingofdates(prioritydate,maildate,etc.)Ø dd/mm/yyyy canbeincorrectlyreadasmm/dd/yyyy
o Dateenteredcorrectlyislatereditedorremoved(e.g.,removingaprioritydate)
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Category2:Errorsoromissionsmadeinmonitoringdeadlines
•Commonsourcesoferrorsinmonitoringdeadlines:oOrphanedfile– responsibilityforfileistransferredbetweenpersonnel,andresponsibilityisnottakenupbynewlyassignedpersonnel– i.e.,thefile“fallsintoacrack”
o Personnelassignedtomonitorthedocketispresentatwork,butfailstocheckdocket,anddateismissed
o Confusionbetweenrelatedfiles– therearetwosimilarfilesthatgetconflatedinthemindofthemonitoringpersonnel
oMonitoringpersonnelisabsentfromwork,andnooneisassignedtobackthemup.
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Category3:Errorsoromissionsmadeincrossingoffdeadlines
• Instructionsfromclientorco-workeraremisunderstood,anditemisimproperlycrossedoffdocket•Clientsendserroneousinstructions• Instructionsareclear,butwrongfileiscrossedoffdocket
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Category4:Errorsoromissionsmadeinperformingadesiredforeignfiling
•Don’treceiveforeignfilinginstructionsintime•Wrongcaseisforeignfiled(canhappeniffilesaresimilarlynamedorwerefiledonsamedate)•Paralegalfailstofiletheapplicationduetodistractionorsimplementallapse• Instructionssenttoforeignassociatetoolate–
o E.g.,itsalreadytomorrowinAsiaortoolateinthedayinEuropeorIndiatoreachforeignagent/attorney
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Strategies/ProcessesforAvoidingForeignFilingMisses
•Doubledocketingofforeignfilingdeadlines•Verificationofallprioritydates•Useonlyparalegalsanddocketingexpertswhoareproventobeexceptionallyreliable
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Strategies/ProcessesforAvoidingForeignFilingMisses(cont.)
•Atleasttwopartiesresponsibleforcross-offs(e.g.,docketingdepartmentANDattorneyorparalegalverifycross-off)•Allcross-offsalsoverifiedinwritingbyclient,especiallyabandonmentinstructions•Docketingteamsendsreminderstoresponsiblepersonnelthedaybeforetheforeignfilingdeadline,notdayofdeadline
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Strategies/ProcessesforAvoidingForeignFilingMisses(cont.)
• Sufficientnotificationsofduedatestoclientandreceiptofinstructionsasearlyaspossible• Ensureinstructionsreceivedfromclientareconveyedtocorrectpersonnel(bothUSandFFparalegaliftheyaredifferent)• Provisionalfiling12-monthdeadlineisalsothedeadlineforallforeignfilings.Requirethatfullforeigninstructionsarereceivedonprovisionalapplicationdeadlines(notjustaUSUtilityconversion,orevenPCTfilingbutalsonon-PCTcountriesmustbefiledatthattimetopreservepriority).
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MitigatingForeignFilingMisses
• Ifnoabsolutenoveltybar,canstillfilewithoutclaimingpriority• PCTcountriesallowforeignfilingupto31and32months,afewallowextensions.o SomecountriescoveredbyaEuropeanfilingcannotenterindividuallyifPCTisfiled,i.e.,France(andotherEPcountries)youmustfileeitherat12-monthsorenterthePCTnationalphasethroughtheEPtogetFrance,youcannotenterPCT– France.
• Ifmultipleprioritydatesonacontinuation-in-partapplication,uselaterprioritydatetoatleastgaincoverageforCIPmaterial.
o TheParisConventiononlyallowsyoutoclaimpriorityfromthefirstapplicationfromtheinventionsolongasitiswithin12monthsofthefirstfiling.ACIPhastwofilingdates.ThefirstfilingdateforthefirstinventionfromwhichitclaimstobeacontinuationandasecondfilingdateforthenewaddedmatterbeingthedateofthefilingoftheCIP.
o YoucanclaimpriorityfromaCIPmorethan12monthsafterthefilingdateoftheparentapplicationbutonlyforthesecondinventioni.e.onlyforthesubjectmatteraddedtotheCIP.UsuallythematteraddedtotheCIPisnotsubstantialenoughtobeseparatelyclaimableandhenceitisnotworthfilingaconventionapplicationforit.
• Fileanalternativeapplicationonanimprovementtomitigatelossofrightsonanearlierfiledapplication
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Thankyouforyourparticipation.
Questions?
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Pleasejoinusforournextpresentation:OptionsandBestPracticesforDocketingProsecutionforCorporateIPDepartmentsthatOutsourceProsecution
October26,20161:00PMCentral
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