[E-trademarks] Save Form Feature May Be Working Again

Tue Dec 12 12:24:03 EST 2023

It appears the "save form" feature may be working again?

I was able to save a filing a few minutes ago (whereas earlier today the
"Save Form" button was not even visible).

Sincerely,

Ed Timberlake
*Board Certified Specialist in Trademark Law
<https://www.nclawspecialists.gov/for-the-public/find-a-board-certified-specialist/results/detail/?id=29473>*

*Timberlake Law* <http://timberlakelaw.com/>
Chapel Hill, NC

Schedule a call on Clarity <https://clarity.fm/edtimberlake>
ed at timberlakelaw.com
919.960.1950

On Tue, Dec 12, 2023 at 10:55 AM Carl Oppedahl via E-trademarks <
e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:

> I'd guess that not one of the USPTO developers managing this particular
> "update" to the TEAS software has ever in his or her life actually used any
> of the TEAS forms involved here, in the actual service of a real client.
>
> I'd guess that the same may be said for whatever beltway bandit contractor
> is being "managed" (using the term loosely ) by the USPTO developers.
>
> I'd guess that if you were to put any of these people on the spot, their
> stammered answer would be that so far as they knew, the "saved submission"
> feature was sort of a "nice to have" thing but not actually really
> important.
>
> Yesterday I received instructions from foreign counsel to carry out a
> trademark renewal.  The fact pattern is complicated and there are layers of
> communication involved.   I am not, for example, in direct communication
> with the underlying client.  The TM registration has five trademark classes
> in it.  The USPTO's proclivity to do "audits" on foreign renewals that have
> lots of semicolons in the ID means that we have no choice but to worry and
> worry about the many would-be specimens of use.  It is almost certain that
> two or three or four versions of the would-be TEAS submission will need to
> be generated and reviewed before the underlying client reaches a confidence
> level as to everything about what will be contained and said in the
> renewal.  There are time zones involved so that every iteration will
> include a loss of at least a 24-hour cycle.
>
> Preparing this TEAS submission, and checking its correctness, took me
> around an hour.
>
> In a normal TEAS workflow, I would save the submission each time, prior to
> shipping the "click here" link off to foreign counsel.  Then the next day
> when I hear back about the need to make some adjustment to the filing
> package, I need merely reload the submission file and make the adjustment,
> and the time required would be just a few minutes.
>
> Same thing a day after that when yet another review cycle has happened and
> it turns out that yet another adjustment is needed.  Maybe against all odds
> the client managed to snap one last photograph and now there is one more
> specimen of use to add to the many specimens of use that had already been
> uploaded to the submission.
>
> But instead of "one hour on the first day plus ten minutes a day later
> plus another ten minutes a day later", this task for this client is going
> to suck up maybe three hours of my time.   All because the saved-submission
> feature has been broken for several days now.
>
> More importantly, every time I have to start from a blank form,
> constructing the renewal package all over again, I have to check the
> correctness of it from the top to the bottom.  Suppose that on the second
> try or the third try, I inadvertently get it a little bit wrong on which
> goods from class 10 are to be canceled and which are to be retained.  If
> eventually that submission is the one that gets submitted and it turns out
> I canceled something that was not supposed to be canceled, it is impossible
> to get that item of goods back into the case.  There is an enormous
> malpractice risk every time that I start over again from a blank form.
>
> My point here being that the USPTO developers probably have no clue, none
> at all, about how wrong they are if they use "nice to have but not really
> super important to have" as their way of characterizing the
> saved-submission feature.
> On 12/12/2023 7:40 AM, Richard Schafer wrote:
>
> Still broken today after three days of outage.
>
>
>
> This is significant egg-on-face territory for the PTO and reinforces the
> opinion that the PTO’s IT department and their contractors are incompetent.
>
>
>
> Best regards,
> *Richard A. Schafer | Schafer IP Law*
> P.O. Box 230081 | Houston, TX 77223
> M: 832.283.6564 | richard at schafer-ip.com
>
>
>
> *From:* E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com>
> <e-trademarks-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> *On Behalf Of *Carl Oppedahl
> via E-trademarks
> *Sent:* Tuesday, December 12, 2023 1:43 AM
> *To:* For trademark practitioners. This is not for laypersons to seek
> legal advice. <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
> <e-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Cc:* Carl Oppedahl <carl at oppedahl.com> <carl at oppedahl.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [E-trademarks] Thanks for the six hours warning on Friday
> evening that I can't save my draft form...
>
>
>
> Thank you for posting.
>
> On 12/11/2023 12:35 PM, Tim Ackermann via E-trademarks wrote:
>
> Evidently, this is still broken -- you cannot save many of the TEAS forms.
> No ETA on repair.
>
> https://www.uspto.gov/blog/ebiz/
>
> Tim Ackermann
>
> The Ackermann Law Firm
>
> E:  tim at ackermannlaw.com
> P:  817.305.0690
> F:  214.453.0810
> W: ackermannlaw.com
> O: 1701 W. Northwest Hwy. Ste. 100
>      Grapevine TX 76051
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Dec 9, 2023 at 3:10 PM Tim Ackermann <tim at ackermannlaw.com> wrote:
>
> Posted at *06:24PM Dec 08, 2023*
> <https://www.uspto.gov/blog/ebiz/entry/planned-events941> in Planned
> Events  |
>
> Friday Dec 08, 2023
>
> Planned Events
>
> *Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) Save Feature Temporarily
> Disabled on Some Forms*
> The USPTO will be updating the TEAS forms below which requires us to
> disable the save feature on those forms *beginning at 12:01 a.m. on
> Saturday*, December 9 ET. An update will be posted on this page once the
> save feature is restored.   You’ll still be able to:
>
>
>    - Save certain forms, including initial applications
>    - Upload data from previously saved forms
>    - Submit all TEAS forms as usual
>
>  Saving will be temporarily disabled on the following forms:
>
>    - Change Address or Representation Form
>    - Combined Declaration of Continued Use/Excusable Nonuse and
>    Incontestability under Sections 71 and 15
>    - Combined Declaration of Use and Incontestability Under Section 8 and
>    15
>    - Combined Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse/Application for
>    Renewal of Registration of a Mark under Section 8 and 9
>    - Declaration of Incontestability of a Mark under Section 15
>    - Declaration of Use and Excusable Nonuse under Section 71
>    - Declaration of Use and/or Excusable Nonuse of Mark in Commerce Under
>    Section 8
>    - Letter of Protest
>    - Petition for Expungement or Reexamination Form
>    - Petition to Revive Abandoned Application - Failure to File Timely
>    Statement of Use or Extension Request
>    - Petition to Revive Abandoned Application - Failure to Respond Timely
>    to Office Action
>    - Petition to the Director
>    - Post-Publication Amendment
>    - Request for Express Abandonment
>    - Request for Extension of Time to File a Response
>    - Request for Permission to Withdraw as Attorney of Record
>    - Request for Reconsideration after Final Action
>    - Request To Delete Section 1(b) Basis, Intent to Use
>    - Response to Office Action
>    - Response to Office Action for Post-Registration Matters/Response to
>    Office Action for Post-Registration for Expungement or Reexamination Form
>    - Response to Suspension Inquiry or Letter of Suspension
>    - Section 7 Request Form
>    - SOU Extension Request
>    - Trademark/Service Mark Allegation of Use
>    - Voluntary Amendment Not in Response to USPTO Office Action/Letter
>    Form
>
>  Thank you for your understanding. If you have questions, email
> *teas at uspto.gov* <teas at uspto.gov>.
>
>
>
>
> Tim Ackermann
>
> The Ackermann Law Firm
>
> E:  tim at ackermannlaw.com
> P:  817.305.0690
> F:  214.453.0810
> W: ackermannlaw.com
> O: 1701 W. Northwest Hwy. Ste. 100
>      Grapevine TX 76051
>
>
>
> --
> E-trademarks mailing list
> E-trademarks at oppedahl-lists.com
> http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/e-trademarks_oppedahl-lists.com
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/e-trademarks_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20231212/29ef2c24/attachment.htm>