Filing My First  PPA Myself - USPTO Confirmation Receipt - October 2010

Real Provisional Patent Application continued from previous page                    Page 7

Problem with my Provisional Patent Application?  OCTOBER 2010

Well, I got some paperwork in the mail a couple of days ago from the US patent office.  The letter was regarding the provisional patent application I filed online a few weeks ago.  When I filed the application online, part of the USPTO’s website was down and the credit card payment did not occur.

What I received from the patent office was a:

“NOTICE TO FILE MISSING PARTS OF PROVISIONAL APPLICATION”

Here is what the notice states:

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 “Items Required To Avoid Abandonment:”

An application number and filing date have been accorded to this application.  The item(s) indicated below, however, are missing. Applicant is given TWO MONTHS from the date of this Notice within which to file all required items and pay any fees required below to avoid abandonment. Extensions of time may be obtained by filing a petition accompanied by thee extension fee under the provisions of 37FR 1.136(a).

To avoid abandonment, a surcharge (for late submission of filing fee or cover sheet) as set forth in 37 CFR 1.16(g) of $25 for a small entity in compliance with 37
CFR 1.27 must be submitted with the missing items identified in the notice.

SUMMARY OF FEES DUE

Total additional fee(S) required for this application is $25 for a small entity

$25 Surcharge.

Replies should be mailed to:

Mail stop Missing Parts
Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 14500
Alexandria VA 22313-1450

Registered users of EFS-Web may alternatively submit their reply to this notice via EFS-Web https://sportal.uspto.gov/authenticate/AuthenticateUserLocalEPF.html

 For more information about EFS-Web please call the USPTO ?Electronic Business Center at 1-866-217-9197 or visit our website at http://www.uspto.gov/ebc.

 If you are not using EFS-Web to submit your reply, you must include a copy of this notice.

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So the "missing" part must have been the $25.00 surcharge.

In addition I got a three page confirmation. It listed my application number, filing date, and it had a confirmation number listed.

Here is what it said in the main portion of the first page:

Receipt is acknowledged of this provisional patent application. It will not be examined for patentability and will become abandoned not later than twelve months after its filing date. Any correspondence concerning the application must include the following identification information: the U.S. APPLICATION NUMBER, FILING DATE, NAME OF APPLICANT, and TITLE OF INVENTION. Fees transmitted by check or draft are subject to collection. Please verify the accuracy of the data presented on the receipt. If an error is noted on this Filing Receipt, please submit a written request for a Filing Receipt Correction. Please provide a copy of this Filing Receipt with the changes noted thereon. If you received a “Notice to File Missing Parts” for this application, please submit any corrections to this Fitting Receipt with your reply to the Notice. When the USPTO processes the reply to the Notice, the USPTO will generate another Filing Receipt incorporating the requested corrections.

It then lists me as the Applicant, states the Power of Attorney as None, and states:

“If Required, Foreign Filing License Granted: 09/16/2010

The country code and number of your priority application, to be used for filing abroad under the Paris Convention, is US 61/375,161

Projected Publication Date: None, application is not eligible for pre-grant publication

Non-Publication Request: No

Early Publication Request; No

“SMALL ENTITY”

Title 

Selective Asparagus Harvester”

The letter goes on to give advice about foreign protection… here is the rest:

PROTECTING YOUR INVENTION OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES

Since the rights granted by a U.S. patent extend only throughout the territory of the United States and have no effect in a foreign country, an inventor who wishes patent protection in another country must apply for a patent in a specific country or in regional patent offices. Applicants may wish to consider the filing of an international application under the Patent Cooperation /treaty (PCT). An international (PCT) application generally has the same effect as a regular national patent application in each P”CGT-member county. The PCT process simplifies the fitting of patent applications on the same invention in member countries, but does not result in a grant of “an international patent” and does not eliminate the need of applicants to file additional documents and fees in countries where patent protection is desired.

 Almost every country has its own patent law, and a person desiring a patent in a particular country must make an application for patent in that country in accordance with its particular laws. “Since the laws of many countries differ in various respects from the patent law of the United States, applicants are advised to seek guidance from specific foreign countries to ensure that patent rights are not lost prematurely.

 Applicants may wish to consult the USPTO booklet, “General Information Concerning Patents” (specifically, the section entitled “Treaties and Foreign patents”) for more information on timeframes and deadlines for filing foreign patent applications. The guide is available either by contacting the USPTO Contact Center at 800-786-9199, or it can be viewed on the USPTIO \Website at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/doc/general/index.html.

 For information on preventing theft of your intellectual property (patents, trademarks and copyrights), you may wish to consult the U.S. Government hotline at 1-866-999-HALT (1-866-999-4158).

LICENSE FOR FOREIGN FILING UNDER

Title 35, United States Code, Section 184

 Title 37, Code of Federal Regulations, 5.11 & 5.15

 GRANTED

The applicant has been granted a license under 35 U.S.C. 184, if the phrase “IF REQUIRED, FOREIGN FILING LICENSE GRANTED” followed by a date appears on this form. Such licenses are issued in all applications where the conditions for issuance of a license have been met, regardless of whether or not a license may be required as set forth in 37 CFR 5.15. The scope and limitations of this license are set forth in 37 CFR 5.15(a) unless an earlier license has been issued under 37 DFR 5.15(b).  The license is subject to revocation upon written notification. The data indicated is the effective date of the license, unless an earlier license of similar scope has been granted under 37 CFR 5.13 or 4.14.

 This license is to be retained by the licensee and may be used at any time on or after the effective date thereof unless it is revoked. This license is automatically transferred to any related applications(s) filed under 37 CFR 1.53(d). This license is not retroactive.

 The grant of a license does not in any way lessen the responsibility of a licensee for the security of the subject matter as imposed by any Government contract or the provisions of existing laws relating to espionage and the national security of the export of technical data. Licensees should apprise themselves of current regulations especially with respect to certain countries, of other agencies, particularly the Office of Defense Trade Controls, Department of State (with respect to ‘Arms, Munitions and implements of War (22 CFR 121-128)); the Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce (15 CFR parts 730-774); the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of Treasury (31 CFR Parts k500+) and the Department of Energy.

 NOT GRANTED

 No license under 325 U.S.C. 184 has been granted at this time, if the phrase “IF REQUIRED, FOREIGN FILING LICENSE GRANTED” DOES NOT appear on this form. Applicant may still petition for a license under 37 CFR 5.12, if a license is desired before the expiration of 6 months from the filing date of the application. If 6 months has lapsed from the filing date of this application and the licensee has not received any indication of a secrecy order under 35 U.S.C. 181, the licensee may foreign file the application pursuant to 37 CFR 5.15(b).

So apparently I was short $25 when I sent the check to the patent office.  I guess I will send them the money.