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USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

federalregister.gov

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Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#81

Post by hn_go_brrrrr »

thayne wrote: post #80
apocalyptic0n3 wrote: post #6

I've been working on some tools that integrate with USPTO (both from the application side and the validation side) for quite a few years now and they've been making a TON of formatting changes recently. A lot of their PDF forms have changed, they're requiring XML versions of all data we submit, they're handling classifications differently, etc. Their process always felt like it was stuck in the past and being handled…

But why choose a (effectively) proprietary format?

ISO/IEC 29500 is not a proprietary format.

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#82

Post by phendrenad2 »

xvilka wrote: post #77
dingle_thunk wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Office Open XML (docx), to be fair, is a non-proprietary standard. Microsoft has been forced into that by the EU; and they keep messing with it, but it is actually technically "open". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_Open_XML

It is open only on paper - at least half of it MSO-specific compatibility cruft, plus real documents often contain binary blobs that aren't described in the standard. Name "open" is a lie in this case. Moreover, it's made in ISO only because of corruption of these standardization bodies. It wasn't even properly reviewed!

Seems to work in LibreOffice, which is open-source just fine.

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#83

Post by chociej »

sidewndr46 wrote: post #76
bragr wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>But it doesn't really say why they chose to build on docx. Is requiring the DOCX format just adding another step in the process for applicants? Actually, it's the opposite. The USPTO conducted a study and found that over 80% of applicants are authoring their applications in DOCX format (through writing tools such as Microsoft Word). Because the files are originally in a DOCX format, uploading the original file elimi…

Wait, what? So they convert from DOCX to PDF after you upload? But you have to upload DOCX? This sounds like the worst of both worlds.

Not really for their own purposes, no. They do convert to PDF (and TIFF!) for various archiving and display needs.

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#84

Post by xvilka »

phendrenad2 wrote: post #82
xvilka wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is open only on paper - at least half of it MSO-specific compatibility cruft, plus real documents often contain binary blobs that aren't described in the standard. Name "open" is a lie in this case. Moreover, it's made in ISO only because of corruption of these standardization bodies. It wasn't even properly reviewed!

Seems to work in LibreOffice, which is open-source just fine.

It's completely unrelated. LibreOffice can open most completely binary DOC or XLS as well, they were just reverse engineered. It has nothing to do with openness.

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#85

Post by [deleted] »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #59
ceeplusplus wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Government can't afford to hire the competent talent, only the scraps after everyone else (even the consulting bodyshops) are done. The top GS pay bracket is lower than entry level engineers at many companies (not just FAANG, but also defense, F500 companies, etc.)

One of the many things that I found tempting about working for the U.S. Digital Service was that, while the GS-15 pay grade is definitely way less than I'd make in the private sector, my spouse's family is military/government and the difference between "hippy programming thingy" and "has a GS-15/O-6 job" would've been night and day. The one puts me in a pile of stereotypes, but the other says "oh, he's basically the…

[deleted]

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#86

Post by notagoodidea »

hn_go_brrrrr wrote: post #81
thayne wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why choose a (effectively) proprietary format?

ISO/IEC 29500 is not a proprietary format.

It is for the .doc format and other Office firmat until Microsoft Office 2008 included and do not provide a standard for the the post-2008 Office format (ending with the `x` in the file extension), AFAIK.

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#87

Post by jcla1 »

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #59
ceeplusplus wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Government can't afford to hire the competent talent, only the scraps after everyone else (even the consulting bodyshops) are done. The top GS pay bracket is lower than entry level engineers at many companies (not just FAANG, but also defense, F500 companies, etc.)

One of the many things that I found tempting about working for the U.S. Digital Service was that, while the GS-15 pay grade is definitely way less than I'd make in the private sector, my spouse's family is military/government and the difference between "hippy programming thingy" and "has a GS-15/O-6 job" would've been night and day. The one puts me in a pile of stereotypes, but the other says "oh, he's basically the…

To clarify, I guess you mean "Captain in the navy", equivalent to a Colonel in other branches. A captain in the army is O-3.

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#88

Post by pbhjpbhj »

nullc wrote: post #28

Machine learning is coming for the examiners jobs. :P

Some aspects of patent administration are being assisted by machine learning, which might mean that statistically a few jobs have already been lost, maybe not examiners per se.

I gather IPCCAT https://ipcpub.wipo.int/?notion=search&version=20220101&symb..., uses ML - and other offices have similar tools.

UKIPO use AI for trademark searches and to streamline applications, eg https://ipo.blog.gov.uk/2020/10/29/introducing-the-trade-mar....

Patent examining seems pretty complex analytically, perhaps some aspects of patent drafting, making a common description from a bunch of 3D renders (like scene description) might be the next low-hanging fruit after classification?

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#89

Post by formerly_proven »

notagoodidea wrote: post #86
hn_go_brrrrr wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

ISO/IEC 29500 is not a proprietary format.

It is for the .doc format and other Office firmat until Microsoft Office 2008 included and do not provide a standard for the the post-2008 Office format (ending with the `x` in the file extension), AFAIK.

You're mistaken, ISO 29500 and ECMA-376 are both (they're actually three somewhat different standards all in all, as I understand it) for "Office Open XML" (totally not intended to be confused with Open Office and Open Office XML), which is docx/pptx/xlsx etc.

ODT (OpenDocument) is also XML-in-a-ZIP and is also an ISO standard (older than Microsoft's, in fact).

I don't think the older variants (.doc, .xls etc.) are standardized, but iirc Microsoft did eventually release some documentation on them.

Re: USPTO to add surcharge on non-DOCX patent applications in 2023

#90

Post by datapolitical »

nfriedly wrote: post #40

Note: the correct link is https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/04/28/2022-09... The fee is $100, $200, or $400 depending on the size of the document.

Depending on the size of the entity. Small organizations qualify for a discount in filing fees.

https://www.uspto.gov/patents/laws/micro-entity-status

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