E-mail Reminders for Trademark Maintenance Filing Deadlines

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will send courtesy e-mail reminders of upcoming post-registration maintenance trademark filing deadlines for §§8 and 71 declarations and §9 renewals to registration owners who (1) provided a valid e-mail address to the USPTO; (2) authorized e-mail communication; and (3) have “live” registrations on the date of sending. The courtesy e-mail reminders will be sent on the first day of the statutory filing period for the maintenance filing (e.g., 5th year anniversary date, 9th year anniversary date, 19th year anniversary date, etc.) to all e-mail addresses of record within the Correspondence and Current Owner(s) Information fields, as indicated in Office records. To ensure receipt of the courtesy e-mail reminders, registration owners are reminded to add the USPTO to their “safe senders list” and/or confirm that their e-mail server will accept e-mail from the USPTO and will not treat it as junk mail or spam. No reminders will be sent by regular mail, and no follow-up e-mails will be attempted for undeliverable e-mails.

For additional information about the courtesy e-mail reminders, including instructions on how to add the USPTO to your “safe senders list,” please visit www.uspto.gov/trademarks/notices/reminder_maintenance_filings.jsp.

Trademarks Next Generation Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual (IDM-NG)

Message from the USPTO:

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced the public debut of the Trademarks Next Generation Acceptable Identification of Goods and Services Manual (IDM-NG). The IDM-NG, launched in “beta format”, features basic and advanced searching options, results that are returned in a sortable table and relevance ranking entries that correlate to the requested search criteria.  The IDM-NG will be available in tandem with the long established “legacy” ID Manual. Both systems will continue to be maintained and contain synchronized data.  The USPTO encourages users to compare and contrast the systems and provide feedback and suggestions to TMFeedback@uspto.gov with the subject “TMNG IDM Feedback.” Your input will shape the next phase of evolution in Trademarks Next Generation.

The TMNG-IDM is best viewed in Microsoft® Internet Explorer® Version 9 and higher, but is also accessible in Google® Chrome® browser version 32. Display resolution settings above 900px are recommended for optimal viewing of the search window and results table.

To view the IDM-NG in the beta format please visit: https://tmidm.uspto.gov

Santa Patents

US Design Patent D680465

Santa Claus is a popular topic for patents. Aside from the design patents using various images of Santa like a chocolate Santa (USD644410 issued Sep 6, 2011 or a Santa on skis (USDesign155477 issued on Oct. 11, 1949), you can find a Santa Claus detector shaped like a stocking (US5523741 issued June 4 1996), a kit for creating an illusion of a Santa visit (US7258592 issued Aug. 21, 2007), a Santa that disappears in a chimney (US3159935 issued Dec. 8, 1964), and an animated Santa on his sleigh pulled by reindeer (USD3820265 issued June 28, 1974) to name a few. Everywhere you look at this time of year, you'll see patented Santas.

Invention Statistics

Have you ever wondered how many people patent inventions each year from the Houston area or which institutions have the most patents? The Patent and Monitoring Team from the United States Patent and Trademark Office has made available at  http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/oeip/taf/reports.htm the following reports:

• DRILL-DOWN Utility Patent Report, Patenting In U.S. Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas, Breakout By Organization, 2000 – 2013
• DRILL-DOWN Utility Patent Report, Patenting In U.S. Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas, Breakout By Technology Class, 2000 – 2013
• DRILL-DOWN Utility Patent Report, Patenting In Technology Classes, Breakout by Origin, U.S. Metropolitan and Micropolitan Areas, 2000 – 2013
• DRILL-DOWN Utility Patent Report, U.S. State Patenting, Breakout by Regional Component (e.g., County), 2000 – 2013
• DRILL-DOWN Inventor Report, U.S. Resident Inventors and Their Utility Patents, Breakout By State Regional Component (e.g., County), 2000 - 2013

Statistics from the World's Five Largest Intellectual Property Offices

Message from the USPTO:

The world’s five largest intellectual property organization (IP5) released its 2013 Annual Statistics Report. The report is designed to facilitate an understanding of operations and patent procedures among the Offices, while providing a means for gauging inventive activity, technology flow and comparing procedures. The IP5 Offices, which together handle about 89 percent of the world’s patent applications, began meeting in 2007 and include: the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the European Patent Office (EPO), the Japan Patent Office (JPO), the Korean Intellectual Property Office (KIPO), and the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO).

The IP5 offices also provide detailed statistical data sheets for historical numbers of patent application filings going back to the 1980s and patent grants broken down by International Patent Classification (IPC) codes and country of origin. The additional statistical data also includes an office by office comparison of fees associated with the patent process, including those associated with services by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

For the full report and additional information on the IP5 please visit their website: www.fiveipoffices.org/statistics/statisticsreports/2013edition.html.