[Patentcenter] Fee payment page won't load

[Carl Oppedahl]

It is true that you can enter the US national phase "in dribs and drabs" 
without incurring any late payment penalties.

So let's suppose the last possible day for the 30 months is (for 
example) December 26.  Then you could do each of the following things:

  * On December 22, you hand in the paper that identifies the PCT
    application and says you want to enter the US national phase (for
    example an ADS).
  * On December 23, you hand in a translation of the PCT application
    into the English tongue.
  * On December 24, you hand in the inventor's declaration.
  * On December 25, you hand in the base national phase fee along with
    the express request.

In ordinary domestic practice this might incur not one but two penalties 
-- one for handing in the translation on a different day than the 
original application, and another for handing in the declaration or fee 
on a different day than the original application.

But as Dan correctly points out, with a 371 case you will not incur any 
penalties for doing these four things on four different days.

This situation of being able to do the four things on four different 
days is not, however, linked to the timing of when (if at all) you hand 
in your express request for immediate national-phase processing.

It is extremely bad form for the practitioner to hand in the express 
request /*prior to*/ the date on which you had handed in everything that 
is needed for US national-phase entry. So in this case it would be 
extremely bad form to hand in the express request prior to December 25.  
(It would also be a waste of time to hand in the express request any 
later than December 25, given that the following day is the last 
possible day in the 30-month period.)

While it is bad form to hand in the express request prematurely (on 
these facts, prior to December 25), the bad form will not trigger a 
penalty.  It will only trigger earning of some bad karma with the DO/EO/US.

Any reader who was not already completely familiar with all of this 
might have somehow failed to attend the free-of-charge Session 14 in the 
Schwegman lectures ( 
https://blog.oppedahl.com/the-2022-schwegman-advanced-pct-training/ ) 
entitled "Best practices and procedure for US national-phase entry".   
Here is what some attendees said about the Schwegman lectures:

  * I have been doing PCT applications for many years. Having said that,
    I learned a great deal in the webinars. Carl is a great presenter
    and obviously knows this subject very well. I would recommend this
    set of webinars for anyone who deals with PCT patent applications.
  * The seminar was very informative and I liked the speaker.
  * It was a good refresher course for someone like me who has surface
    knowledge of PCT filings. I also enjoyed reading the chats and
    learned a few things from them. It was the best 15 hours well spent.
  * This webinar series was fantastic. I would highly recommend it to
    anyone who has any involvement with PCT applications, regardless of
    level of experience.
  * Carl is very good!
  * The sessions were so informative, and Carl really is the master.
  * Carl was an amazing teacher. Always great to hear from him.
  * This was an excellent series of lectures on the PCT system.
  * Carl is very knowledgeable and hilarious. He gave the lessons about
    PCT, how to be responsible at work, how to face with problems and
    how to solve them, a respectful gentlemen for kindness as well.
  * I’ve been practicing patent law for about 35 years. This was the
    most useful CLE program I’ve ever attended.
  * The presentation was very clear and helpful. I appreciated that it
    was understandable to a neophyte.
  * Thanks so much for this very informative seminar series.
  * Carl did a wonderful job, as always! This was very valuable material.

Fortunately it is possible to binge-watch all fourteen hours of this PCT 
training, all free of charge.  Just go to 
https://blog.oppedahl.com/the-2022-schwegman-advanced-pct-training/ and 
start clicking.


On 12/23/2023 11:06 PM, Dan Feigelson via Patentcenter wrote:
> Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but IIRC if you're not filing at the 
> 30 month deadline but a few days before, and don't file the form 1390 
> telling the PTO to start processing the national phase immediately, 
> you still have until  the 30 month deadline to pay the fees (and file 
> the inventor declarations if you haven't yet done so) without 
> incurring the late payment surcharge.
>
> On Fri, Dec 22, 2023 at 10:09 PM Katherine Koenig via Patentcenter 
> <patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:
>
>     I just filed a 371 application and clicked the pay fees button. 
>     The payment page won’t load.  What’s the best way to pay the fees
>     online for this application today?  Thanks so much!
>
>     Best regards,
>
>     Katherine
>
>
>
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