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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