USPTO moves towards electronic patent filing — questions PDF ambiguity.

Carl Oppedahl runs the extremely helpful e-filing listserv from his site www.patents.com.  Most recently, Mr. Oppedahl has provided a brief summary and analysis of the PTO’s next steps in the inevitable move to electronic patent filings.

  • The PTO is worried about whether the PDF format is good enough — for instance, there are cases where PDF printouts vary according to the system doing the printing.  The PTO would like comments on this issue.
  • A web-based electronic filing system will be in beta testing this fall for a limited number of participants.
  • The beta system includes electronic filing of IDS forms.
  • Mr. Oppedahl expects the web-based filing system to be wildly successful.

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