Now accepting National Medal of Technology and Innovation nominations

USPTO is seeking nominations for the 2020 National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI). The NMTI is the nation’s highest honor for technological achievement, bestowed by the president of the United States.

The medal is awarded to individuals, teams, and companies for their outstanding contributions to the nation’s economic, environmental, and social well-being through the development and commercialization of technological products, processes and concepts, technological innovation, and strengthening of the nation’s technological workforce.

Anyone can nominate for the NMTI by submitting the online nomination form and letters of support. Applicants must complete nominations before midnight ET, April 3. Nominations of candidates from traditionally underrepresented groups are encouraged.

For more information, and to register for a February 26 webinar about the nomination process, please visit the NMTI webpage on the USPTO website.

USPTO and Mexican Institute of Industrial Property launch new worksharing arrangement

Agreement makes it easier and faster obtain a patent in Mexico

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) agreed to launch a new worksharing arrangement that will accelerate the process of obtaining a patent in Mexico for businesses and individuals already in possession of a corresponding U.S. patent.

Under the terms of the agreement signed by USPTO Director Andrei Iancu and IMPI Director General Juan Lozano Tovar in Mexico City today, the two offices will implement a parallel patent grant framework that allows IMPI to leverage USPTO search and examination results when granting a counterpart Mexican patent.

For more information, see the full press release on our website.

Attend the BCP Partnership Meeting

Share your insights and experiences of patent prosecution in biotechnology areas at our Biotechnology, Chemical, and Pharmaceutical Customer Partnership (BCP) Meeting on January 28, from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET. The meeting will be held at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia and online. Participants can speak with agency experts either in person or via webcast from all locations.

To register, please email USPTOBCP1600@uspto.gov by Friday, January 24. Include “BCP RSVP” in the subject line. In the email body, please include the following information:

• Your name, title, and organization
• Contact information (email, phone, etc.)
• Your attending location (Alexandria or online)

More information is available on the BCP meeting event page of the USPTO website.

Learn how USPTO approach examination of ranges

Want to be briefed on recent examination practice and procedure guidance related to examination of ranges? Attend our Virtual Instructor Led Training (vILT) course Examination of Ranges on February 11, 12, or 13.

Our trainers will lead this course based on recent patent examiner training. The course has limited capacity, and selection for attendance is based on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign up by Sunday, February 26 to attend.

The USPTO is applying for two hours of CLE credit in Virginia for this course.

Visit the vILT page of the USPTO website to learn more about the program and upcoming sessions.

Public PAIR reCAPTCHA update

USPTO will be updating reCAPTCHA V2 to reCAPTCHA V3, which will no longer require users to pass a challenge test to access Public PAIR. Instead, system monitoring will determine human interaction versus data mining. If the reCAPTCHA V3 system mistakenly identifies human interaction as data mining, users will be able to select the “Refresh” link to reestablish Public PAIR access.

The update requires Public PAIR to be unavailable from 12:01-4 a.m. ET, Friday, January 17. Users will still be able to access Private PAIR and EFS-Web during this maintenance period. 

Please contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 or ebc@uspto.gov from 6:00 a.m. to midnight ET, Monday through Friday, for assistance.

Patents for Humanity nomination period extended to Feb. 15

USPTO is now accepting applications for the 2020 Patents for Humanity awards. These awards go to innovators who use game-changing technology to meet global humanitarian challenges. Winners receive public recognition of their work and a patent acceleration certificate to expedite select proceedings at the USPTO. Apply for free by February 15.

Patents for Humanity recognizes inventions that address global development issues such as medicine, nutrition, living standards, sanitation, and energy. Individuals, corporations, nonprofits, small businesses, academic institutions, and government agencies are eligible to compete. View the 2018 award recipients.

For more information, visit the Patents for Humanity page on the USPTO website.

Agents and attorneys: Learn to think like a patent examiner

If you are a patent attorney or agent, it helps to think like an examiner. Get a better understanding of how examiners make decisions at the Stakeholder Training on Examination Practice and Procedure (STEPP) agent/attorney three-day course on May 12-14, 2020 at the Thomas P. O’Neill, Jr. Federal Building in Boston.

Our trainers lead in-person courses based on material developed for our employees. Training focuses on how our examiners review patent applications according to the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP). Similar to entry-level examiners, each trainee will use a sample application that will be the focus of exercises.

The USPTO is applying for CLE credit in Maine and Vermont for this course.

Use the STEPP sign-up form to register to attend.

You can learn more about the program and upcoming sessions on the STEPP page of the USPTO website.

Provide input on draft Trademark exam guide

We would like to hear your feedback on a draft exam guide. To do so:

1. Review the guide: Marks Including Geographic Wording that Does Not Indicate Geographic Origin of Cheeses and Processed Meats.
2. Post your comments on the Trademark Policy Collaboration Site.

For information about how to set up an account and use this tool, review the How to use IdeaScale® page.

The USPTO is no longer accepting requests to participate in the IP5 PCT CS&E pilot

We have reached the total number of applications we can accept for the IP5 Offices' Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Collaborative Search and Examination (CS&E) pilot, and will no longer accept new international applications.

Interested applicants can attempt to participate in the pilot through another International Searching Authority (ISA). Find information on the number of applications accepted into the pilot by each IP5 office in its capacity as an ISA on the CS&E pilot webpage of the World Intellectual Property Organization. 

IP5 launched this pilot on July 1, 2018. It allows examiners from all five offices, with different working languages, to collaborate on the search and examination of a single international application. The result is an international search report and written opinion from the chosen ISA based on contributions from all participating offices. The second year of the pilot runs from July 1, 2019, to June 30, 2020. 

For questions and concerns about the CS&E pilot, contact Deputy Director of the International Patent Legal Administration Michael Neas at (571) 272-3289 or michael.neas@uspto.gov.

Digital certificate access through quick response code

Beginning December 24, 2019, you'll see a quick response code (similar to a barcode) on the printed registration certificate. You can scan this code using a quick response app to open a digital version of your registration certificate in the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system.

This allows you to more easily access your certificate and verify that the information on the printed certificate matches TSDR. This is also a step toward providing an official digital registration certificate that will replace the print version.

Example of certificate: