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<div dir="auto">My recent experience has been that the PTO forms <u>are</u> fillable using the free Acrobat Reader *if filled manually*. Reader does not support automation (e.g., XML-based filling), however. </div>
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<div id="composer_signature" dir="auto">Best regards,<br dir="auto">
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-Jim<br dir="auto">
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James C. Larsen<br dir="auto">
Attorney<br dir="auto">
Larsen IP PLLC<br dir="auto">
p: 425.298.6846<br dir="auto">
e: <a href="mailto:jim@Larsen-IP.com" dir="auto">jim@Larsen-IP.com</a><br dir="auto">
w. <a href="http://www.Larsen-IP.com" dir="auto">www.Larsen-IP.com</a><br dir="auto">
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<div>-------- Original message --------</div>
<div>From: Carl Oppedahl via Patentpractice <patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com> </div>
<div>Date: 4/19/24 8:19 AM (GMT-08:00) </div>
<div>To: "For patent practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek legal advice." <patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com>
</div>
<div>Cc: Carl Oppedahl <carl@oppedahl.com> </div>
<div>Subject: Re: [Patentpractice] PDF forms issue </div>
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<p>Same here. See screen shot below. Acrobat Pro 2017 is installed on my notebook computer. I paid a one-time fee a long time ago for this software for a paid-up license. Adobe nowadays does not, for any amount of money, nowadays offer a way to get a new
install of Acrobat that is (a) installed on your computer rather than in a cloud, and (b) can be paid for once and then you have a paid-up license.</p>
<p>I imagine that what is going on nowadays is that the USPTO people do not give a moment's thought to the consequences for users when they migrate to the newest version of Acrobat. Probably what happens is that the USPTO people then update some fillable official
USPTO PDF form (for example the inventor declaration) using the newest version of Acrobat. And Adobe has hidden some code in the newest version of Acrobat that make it so that when the fillable official USPTO PDF form gets updated, this newest version of
Acrobat leaves tripwires inside the fillable official USPTO PDF form. And then when a USPTO customer tries to make use of a version of Acrobat that is not the newest
<i><b>paid-for </b></i>version, it pukes or crashes or freezes.</p>
<p>Twenty years ago, when the USPTO launched EFS-Web, the USPTO's promise to users was that any and all functions of the fillable official USPTO PDF forms could be carried out by using the free version of Acrobat.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure the USPTO has by now betrayed that promise. I am pretty sure that the USPTO's revisions to its fillable official USPTO PDF forms have led to a situation where the only way to make use of the forms is by means of
<i><b>paid-for</b></i> Acrobat, and not only that, the only way to make use of the forms is by means of
<i><b>recurring-cost</b></i> Acrobat.<br>
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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/19/2024 8:42 AM, Suzannah K. Sundby via Patentpractice wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Me thinks/suspects that Adobe might be intentionally causing issues so that users decide to update their software which I think they offer
<u>subscription</u> only now.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Hence, Im trying to stick with my Adobe Acrobat Pro 2017 desktop software for as long as possible.</span></p>
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