[Patentcenter] Cannot access saved submissions on Workbench on PatentCenter

[Timothy Snowden]

As a follow-up:

1) I was able to re-access the system and continue in ~10 minutes (this 
time -- I've had the same error persist longer when retrieving documents 
before for applications we're actively prosecuting).
2) I then filed an e-Petition, paid, and recieved a "merge receipt" 
(document receipt, payment receipt, and grant of petition all presented 
as a single document).
     - I "SAVE AS" the merge receipt successfully ... opened it up ... 
and the document and payment receipts were there, but the /grant of 
petition was omitted/ (the last page or 2 of the document).
     - I retried several times (save as and print buttons) -- it 
consistently omitted the third document (which appeared to have a 
different page size) that showed the petition granted
     - I finally had to screenshot (I used Fireshot) the confirmation 
page to capture the grant of petition.
I'm /assuming/ that the grant of petition would eventually show up in 
patentcenter, but I almost lost any confirmation I had that the petition 
was granted if I hadn't just opened the save receipt and double-checked 
before my browser lost the confirmation screen (I had already closed it 
down after saving the PDF, but was able to restore the tab).

I may be able to put together sanitized screenshots, but unfortunately 
there is no way I'm able to scrounge time to write it up right now.

On 11/14/2023 8:53 PM, Gerry Peters wrote:
> Timothy Snowden<timothy at thompsonpatentlaw.com>  writes:
>> This is a systemic error in which an error "Search
>> limit reached" is given at random times, at random intervals, on
>> random parts of PatentCenter, and to random people. Always, it
>> prevents use of PatentCenter. When applied to critical functions
>> (like retrieving applications to file), it risks loss of rights to
>> patent holders, and at least excessive costs in late fees, penalties,
>> and/or petition fees.
> Happened to me as well (about 3 hours ago). I wasn't doing
> searches, had only accessed one application, so maybe "search
> limit" applies not to user but to (USPTO-side) system? Thought that
> logging out and logging back in might fix, but no go. Fortunately I did
> not have anything that absolutely needed to be done at that moment, but
> Tim is 100% correct about this Russian-Roulette "search limit reached"
> error being equivalent to "system down/unavailable," since user appears
> to be prevented from doing _anything_ in PatentCenter when error occurs.
>
> Does anyone have a feel for how long unusable state is likely to
> persist once such a system down/unavailable error occurs?
>
> With such bugs still unfixed, it boggles the mind to think that the
> USPTO believes it to be in USPTO's interest to eliminate the existing
> EFS-Web/PAIR system as backup. This sort of disregard for negative
> outcomes only happens when one does not have skin in the game. Any
> chance we could find a court that would take a class-action lawsuit
> filed on behalf of USPTO users whose rights end up being prejudiced
> if/when EFS-Web/PAIR is retired?
>
> ---Gerry
>
> Gerry Peters
> U.S. Patent Agent & Japanese Translator
>
> JTT K.K. (OSAKA & TOKYO JAPAN)
> JTT PATENT SERVICES, LLC (NH USA)
> JTT TRANSLATION SERVICES, LLC (NH USA)
> --------------------------------------------------
> TEL +1 206 203 5010	EMAIL	info at jttpatent.com
> FAX +1 206 203 5020	WEB  	www.jttpatent.com
>
>
>>> BEGIN MSG ID
>>> 19ce6520-8400-4eec-b8ef-83d2fe28b2bb at thompsonpatentlaw.com  <<
> Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2023 17:20:41 -0600
> From: Timothy Snowden via Patentcenter<patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com>
> To: Patentcenter<patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com>
> Cc: Timothy Snowden<timothy at thompsonpatentlaw.com>
> Subject: [Patentcenter] Cannot access saved submissions on Workbench on
> PatentCenter
>
> This is a new one. PatentCenter is blocking me from filing a response
> to an imminent bar date by preventing me from accessing saved
> submissions on my Workbench. This is a systemic error in which an error
> "Search limit reached" is given at random times, at random intervals,
> on random parts of PatentCenter, and to random people. Always, it
> prevents use of PatentCenter. When applied to critical functions (like
> retrieving applications to file), it risks loss of rights to patent
> holders, and at least excessive costs in late fees, penalties, and/or
> petition fees.
>
> See screenshot below.
>
>>> END MSG ID
>>> 19ce6520-8400-4eec-b8ef-83d2fe28b2bb at thompsonpatentlaw.com  <<
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/patentcenter_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20231115/c2e8ea9c/attachment.html>