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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">But I still think it has to be reported to the client.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">From:
</span></b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Patentpractice <patentpractice-bounces@oppedahl-lists.com> on behalf of Patentpractice Patentpractice <patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com><br>
<b>Reply-To: </b>Dan Feigelson <djf@iliplaw.com>, Patentpractice Patentpractice <patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com><br>
<b>Date: </b>Monday, April 29, 2024 at 5:06 PM<br>
<b>To: </b>Patentpractice Patentpractice <patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com><br>
<b>Cc: </b>Dan Feigelson <djf@iliplaw.com><br>
<b>Subject: </b>Re: [Patentpractice] Interesting notice from USPTO re data breach<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I agree that the potential damage should be assessed on a case-by-case basis. In my case that prompted this thread, the title of the application says nothing about the invention itself. So I'm not concerned if anyone saw the title by typing
in my application number, inadvertently or deliberately. And as a general rule, I try to use titles that disclose as little as possible about the invention. That's what the spec is for.
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dan<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On Mon, Apr 29, 2024 at 9:50\u202fPM Carl Oppedahl via Patentpractice <<a href="mailto:patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com">patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com</a>> wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On 4/29/2024 12:14 PM, Carl Oppedahl wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">On 4/29/2024 9:20 AM, Patent Lawyer via Patentpractice wrote:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>Part II:</b> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>I have received at least 6 of these notices. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>What should I tell my clients? <o:p></o:p></p>
<p>(Because I feel like writing another letter in my abundant free time!)<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p>Here is what I wrote to one of our clients a few minutes ago ...<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Subject line includes "USPTO may have revealed your application title to a third party"<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Body of email includes:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Now the USPTO reveals that it may have revealed the title of your patent application to some member of the public. See the attached Notice.
<br>
<br>
Our title is "redacted". Our application is scheduled to be published on redacted, 2025. I'd guess your reaction to this would be that the title, taken alone, does not reveal the entirety of the invention. Of course the revelation of the title might nonetheless
be of interest to third parties who would thereby learn that the client is innovating in this technical area.
<br>
<br>
As you may see, the USPTO commits to "confirming that the disclosure was erroneous and inadvertent".
<br>
<br>
I am not able to think of any next step for the client to do about this, other than waiting for the publication to happen around sixteen months from now.
<br>
<br>
Carl <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p>It seems to me that the reaction to this data breach ought to be very much a matter of case-by-case consideration.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Imagine one extreme, where the case claims priority from something that has already been published. Or, similarly, the case is a US national phase of a PCT that has already been published. In such cases the revelation of the title would likely be a no
harm no foul. The revelation of the application number might, nonetheless, be of concern to the extent that it might reveal filing activity by the client that would otherwise not have been known to adversaries or competitors.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Yet another element of the case-by-case analysis would be tied to the title itself. One extreme is the "tetrafluoroethylene polymers" case where the title literally reveals the invention. Another extreme is the innocuous title that reveals very little.
"Method and apparatus for data transmission." "Improved cat box."<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>In the case quoted above, the client is player number 3 or so in a fairly small world where player number 1 has infinite amounts of money to spend on making trouble for players 2 and 3. Even the tiniest clue given to player number 1 about our client's filing
activities would be unfortunate. But my situation is that I think the CIO's notice to me is a "boy who cried wolf" situation. I think it's highly likely that the CIO sent the notice to me not because any actual data logging by the USPTO revealed that some
third party saw my client's invention title. I think it's highly likely that the CIO sent the notice to me for no better reason than that I recorded an assignment during the breach period.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p>Yet another factor for the case-by-case analysis is the position in the time line for the US pub. In the case I quoted above, the filing that I did claimed no priority and no domestic benefit. So the US pub will be sixteen months from now. It's sad to
think of unnecessarily revealing something sixteen months early. On the other hand if the case you are looking at is going to be published in a week, maybe that is not so sad.<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- Patentpractice mailing list Patentpractice@oppedahl-lists.com http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com
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