[Patentcenter] eIF (Web 85B)- practitioner registration number omitted from IF transmittal

[Randall Svihla]

Since the registration number field is blank, I wonder if the payment will be rejected even though you have included it in your signature, depending on how automated the eIF process is.


From: Patentcenter <patentcenter-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> On Behalf Of Michael Nye via Patentcenter
Sent: Wednesday, November 8, 2023 5:34 PM
To: users of Patentcenter <patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: Michael Nye <nye.patents at gmail.com>
Subject: [Patentcenter] eIF (Web 85B)- practitioner registration number omitted from IF transmittal

My apologies for the additional email on the web-based 85b, but this one actually appears to be a substantive risk to the filing, not just an unwarranted error that can be ignored. And if this has already been reported, then please double my apologies.

When following the eIF process, I reviewed the Issue Fee Transmittal Form before hitting submit. My "Registration #" was not present: instead, only a dash was present. The registration # is a required part of a practitioner's S-Signature. 37 CFR 1.4(d)(2)(ii), and its omission should probably cause the issue fee transmittal to be rejected as missing a valid signature. Yikes.

I went back through the process and found that there was no way to edit the blank registration number (it was grayed out). So my only option was to add it between the virgules. Screenshot of the updated Issue Fee Transmittal Form:

[cid:image001.png at 01DA126B.773E8E80]

After submitting the eIF, I logged out and logged back in and did a test eIF on another allowed application. This time, while the Registration number box was still grayed out, my registration number was present. Screenshot of the first page of the eIF process:
[cid:image002.png at 01DA126B.773E8E80]
So this error is intermittent. Look out!

Also, as I believe Carl would observe, PatentCenter should NOT be advising the user that the Registration number is optional. It would be for a pro se inventor. But, unless I'm missing something, it is definitely not optional for a practitioner.


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