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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Goudy Old Style",serif;color:#1F497D">The last I knew, the PTO was still saying that DOCX was only accepted in new applications, not office action responses. I’m surprised PatentCenter was even willing to accept
a response to a restriction requirement in that format.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Goudy Old Style",serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN">Best regards,<br>
<b>Richard A. Schafer | Schafer IP Law</b></span><span style="font-family:"Garamond",serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN"><br>
</span><span style="font-family:"Goudy Old Style",serif;color:#1F497D;mso-fareast-language:ZH-CN">P.O. Box 230081 | Houston, TX 77223<br>
M: 832.283.6564 | </span><span style="font-family:"Goudy Old Style",serif;color:#1F497D"><a href="mailto:richard@schafer-ip.com"><span style="color:#0563C1">richard@schafer-ip.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Patentcenter <patentcenter-bounces@oppedahl-lists.com>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Andrew Berks via Patentcenter<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Sunday, April 21, 2024 11:20 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> For bug reports, feature requests, and tips and tricks about Patent Center. <patentcenter@oppedahl-lists.com><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Andrew Berks <andrew@berksiplaw.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Patentcenter] Another Docx Horror Story<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">At the risk of boring this group to tears--<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Last fall, before the risks of docx filings were crystal clear, I filed a response to a restriction requirement with the claims in docx format. A corresponding pdf was not filed. In the response, I canceled claims 1-6, withdrew claims 7-15
as non-elected , and filed new claims 16-19 with the same subject matter as original claims 1-6. New claim 16 was independent, new claims 17-19 were dependent on claim 16.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I just got the office action back, and it is a monster. 46 pages. Among other stuff, the examiner alleged I was not responsive to the office action. I was confused reading this and wondering how I could have messed this up so badly. <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On further investigation, I discovered that the claims 17-19 in Patent Center are shown as depending from claim 11 - not claim 16! I just went back and double checked - all of my drafts show claims 17-19 depending from claim 16. I probably
used the Word cross-reference feature to organize the claim numbers, but the USPTO on upload corrupted this info. For some reason, the feedback document was not saved so I have no conclusive proof of the data corruption, but on my side all drafts have the
dependence from claim 16.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">So in retrospect, it is not surprising the examiner said I was not responsive since as far as she could tell, claims 17-19 were drafted as depending from non-elected claims. While it looks like a simple typo, this data corruption was amplified
by making my response look like I didn't know what I was talking about, and the examiner was so annoyed she blasted out 46 pages.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I want to be clear here - this was not a typo - it was a docx data corruption error caused by the USPTO. Now I have a big job cleaning up this mess and it's probably going to cost the client an RCE.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Andrew Berks, Ph.D., J.D.</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0079AC"> </span><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">|
Partner</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Patent Attorney and IP Licensing</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">FRESH</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#444444"> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#242424">IP
PLC</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#444444"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<b>e:</b> </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#0563C1"><a href="mailto:andrew@freship.com" target="_blank">andrew@freship.com</a></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#444444"> | </span><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">w: </span></b><a href="http://www.freship.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif">www.freship.com</span></a> <a href="https://berksiplaw.com/" target="_blank">berksiplaw.com</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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