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<p>This is "request the RO to forward" approach not a Best Practice,
I suggest.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>If you do as the poster suggests, you are checking the box that
says "the RO is requested to send a certified copy to the IB".
And you are filling in some fields in the Request to indicate the
application number, and the two-letter code for the OFF (office of
first filing), and the filing date. </p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>But this never gets validated. Suppose you put in an American
date instead of a metric date (June 7 instead of July 6)? This
will not get caught at filing time, nor will it get caught at
Request-preparation time. Or suppose you mistype the application
number? Or you accidentally auto-complete the two-letter code as
"UA" instead of "US". Or, worse, the party who filed that
provisional told you the application number but they told you
wrong?<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>In any these cases, you could end up on the wrong side of the
dreaded 4-and-16 date and only then find out that something went
wrong.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>Best Practice is to use ePCT to set it up so that the retrieval
will happen through DAS. This forces a real-time, instant
cross-check of the proposed priority claim information against the
actual information stored in the DAS system, which in turn was
automatically cross-checked against the source system (e.g. the
USPTO system). Nearly all possible mistakes (including the
imagined mistakes listed above) will be checked for in real time
during the ePCT validations.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>In this case, Katherine faced the unpleasantness that the party
who filed the provisional had failed to make it available to DAS,
and she was forced to file form SB39 to commence the painfully
slow process within the USPTO of eventually making the provisional
available to DAS. Which, yes, would surely not reach its
conclusion until after the PCT application needed to get filed.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>So the steps to follow are:</p>
<ul>
<li>set a docket for getting the ECC into the hands of the IB</li>
<li>given that the priority application is not yet available to
DAS, as a place-holder, indicate in the ePCT Request that
"applicant will provide".</li>
<li>get the PCT application filed.</li>
<li>badger the USPTO (through <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:pdx@uspto.gov">pdx@uspto.gov</a> as needed) to make the
priority application available to DAS</li>
<li>at some point USPTO will say (probably prematurely) that the
priority application is supposedly now available to DAS</li>
<li>at this point, start doing a "trust but verify" by trying to
set up an alert in DAS</li>
<li>after some days, you will hopefully be able to set up an alert
in DAS (the USPTO will eventually actually do what it said it
had done some days earlier)<br>
</li>
<li>dowload and save a Certificate of Availability</li>
<li>in ePCT, with connection to the subject PCT application, do an
"action" for requesting that the IB retrieve the ECC from DAS</li>
<li>within one business day, the IB will report success at the
retrieval through Form PCT/IB/304</li>
<li>take note that simultaneously, the DAS system will email you
to report that the IB successfully retrieved the ECC</li>
<li>clear the docket for the ECC reaching DAS</li>
</ul>
<p>Everyone who is following this discussion of Best Practices for
getting an ECC into one's PCT application is invited to register,
if they have not already done so, for the upcoming comprehensive,
live, in-person PCT seminars. See <a
href="https://blog.oppedahl.com/attend-a-2%c2%bd-day-live-in-person-patent-cooperation-treaty-seminar-in-scenic-summit-county-colorado-2/"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://blog.oppedahl.com/attend-a-2%c2%bd-day-live-in-person-patent-cooperation-treaty-seminar-in-scenic-summit-county-colorado-2/</a>
.<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 6/4/2024 9:40 AM, Timothy Snowden
via Pct wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:LV8PR16MB628479C9E8302617434E1C89B3F82@LV8PR16MB6284.namprd16.prod.outlook.com">
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<div class="elementToProof"
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Katherine, did you ask the RO/US to provide a copy on the PCT
request form (RO/101)? Together with the SB/39, I would think
that should take care of getting a certified copy over without
this headache on your part. I recently talked to PCT Help Desk
(IB) about it when I was trying to get a provisional released
from security review, and they said that if priority app is a US
application, and you file request RO/US to provide a certified
copy, and as long as the USPTO finally sends over a copy (even
after publication) sometime during the international phase, IB
treats it as timely provided within the deadline for providing a
certified copy.</div>
<div class="elementToProof"
style="font-family: Calibri, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">
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<div id="divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><span
style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><b>From:</b> Pct
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:pct-bounces@oppedahl-lists.com"><pct-bounces@oppedahl-lists.com></a> on behalf of Katherine
Koenig via Pct <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:pct@oppedahl-lists.com"><pct@oppedahl-lists.com></a><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Tuesday, June 4, 2024 10:23 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> for users of the Patent Cooperation Treaty
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:pct@oppedahl-lists.com"><pct@oppedahl-lists.com></a><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Katherine Koenig
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:katherine@koenigipworks.com"><katherine@koenigipworks.com></a><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [Pct] Digitally signed PDF of certified copy
of US priority document</span>
<div> </div>
</div>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">A
client filed a provisional pro se and then I came in at the 11<sup>th</sup> hour
to file US utility and PCT applications. Access to
participating offices was inadvertently
<u>not</u> provided by the client in the provisional
application. The day before the provisional expired, I filed a
SB/39 form requesting access. That hasn’t yet been processed or
approved (currently being escalated, however).</p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Since
DAS is not (yet) an option, I’m trying to figure out how to get
a certified copy of the US provisional to WIPO. I’ve ordered
both hard copy and digital PDF copy on CD. However, when I try
to upload the PDF document to ePCT, it’s rejected as not being
digitally signed. I called Certified Copy Center and was told
that the document is digitally signed until you open the file on
the CD. Then the digital signature mysteriously disappears,
which is why it’s rejected by ePCT when I open the file and try
to upload it. Instead, we’re supposed to
<i><u>mail the CD</u></i> to WIPO so they can open it and see
the signature. Does this make any sense to anyone? Am I
missing something about how to upload a certified copy in ePCT
as an Action? It can’t be this hard. </p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"> </p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;">Best
regards,</span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;"> </span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;">Katherine</span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;"> </span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;">Dr.
Katherine Koenig</span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;"><i>Registered
Patent Attorney</i></span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;">Koenig
IP Works, PLLC</span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;">2208
Mariner Dr.</span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;">Fort
Lauderdale, FL 33316</span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: black;">(954)
903-1699</span></p>
<p
style="margin: 0in; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span
style="font-family: Corbel, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; color: blue;"><a
href="mailto:katherine@koenigipworks.com"
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class="OWAAutoLink moz-txt-link-freetext"
style="color: blue; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;"
moz-do-not-send="true">katherine@koenigipworks.com</a></span></p>
<p
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