[Patentcenter] Published version of us patent applications no longer identical to what was filed (experimental use of AI at PTO)?

[Gerry Peters]

David writes...
> Theyve been editing / uniforming priority references for decades.
> ...
> changing the chemical names -- thats another whole thing.

Richard writes...
> ... shouldn’t there at least be something stating (and justifying)
> the change on the record?

Yes, I vaguely recall noticing the changes to related app references
some time ago and letting it slide (but would mention that slashes and
punctuation are notorious for wreaking havoc with OCR occurring
downstream of the PTO "corrections," so is not clear why PTO has
selected this particular format as the preferred format, to which all
specs must be made to conform). 

But of course the bigger question -- as pointed out by Richard -- is on
what basis the PTO thinks they can change the spec without documenting
that as we would have to were we to make a similar "correction."

And as David points out, changing chemical names -- which in the present
case is hard to believe is a result of pure OCR without any additional
spellchecking or AI, given the good legibility of the app as filed
and the fact that the content of the app was identically misrendered
by PTO at three locations in the published spec -- is another matter
entirely!

Have to file my first docx app shortly. I guess I should give the
client the option of paying the fee for PDF-only, or (what is more
likely, given my cost-conscious client) file in docx + auxiliary PDF (or
whatever they're calling the supplemental PDF version)...

---Gerry

Gerry Peters
U.S. Patent Agent & Japanese Translator

JTT K.K. (OSAKA & TOKYO JAPAN)
JTT PATENT SERVICES, LLC (NH USA)
JTT TRANSLATION SERVICES, LLC (NH USA)
--------------------------------------------------
TEL +1 206 203 5010	EMAIL	info at jttpatent.com
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Date: Tue, 30 Apr 2024 06:53:24 -0400
From: David Boundy <DavidBoundyEsq at gmail.com>
To: "For bug reports, feature requests, and tips and tricks about
Patent Center." <patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com> Cc: Gerry Peters
<gerrypeters at jttpatent.com> Subject: Re: [Patentcenter] Published
version of us patent applications no longer identical to what was filed
(experimental use of AI at PTO)?

Theyve been editing / uniforming priority references for decades.  If
you think about it, they kind of have to.  I long ago adopted the
practice of using their conventions in my specifications so my
proofreading would be easy.

changing the chemical names -- thats another whole thing.

On Mon, Apr 29, 2024, 11:48 PM Gerry Peters via Patentcenter <
patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:

> Looking at a recent published US patent application, I happened to see
> an obvious typo that was the fault of the PTO (filed app said
> "polyamide (PA)" but PTO printed this as "polyimide (PA)").
>
> This prompted me to look a bit more closely, upon which I noted that,
> at the first two paragraphs of this particular spec (Cross-Reference
> to Related Apps; Statement Under 37 CFR 1.77(b)(6)), the PTO has
> freely abbreviated months of dates that were written in longhand as
> filed and has made multiple "helpful" insertions such as "Ser.",
> presumably so that the reader will know that application numbers and
> patent numbers listed in the spec are in fact serial numbers as
> opposed to some other sort of number.
>
> My point is not to argue whether the PTO's alterations and insertions
> are helpful or unhelpful (changing polyamide to polyimide was
> decidedly unhelpful), but to point out that the PTO appears to
> experimenting with some sort of AI that is casually altering the text
> of what was filed in ways that at least I have not previously seen.
>
> This strikes me as major shift in the seriousness, vel non, with
> which the PTO views its duty to preserve and publish an accurate
> record of what was actually filed.
>
> When combined with the DOCX issue, this also places a further
> unjustified burden on the practitioner who now needs to proofread the
> PTO's work at multiple stages during filing and prosecution.
>
> ---Gerry
>
> Gerry Peters
> U.S. Patent Agent & Japanese Translator
>
> JTT K.K. (OSAKA & TOKYO JAPAN)
> JTT PATENT SERVICES, LLC (NH USA)
> JTT TRANSLATION SERVICES, LLC (NH USA)
> --------------------------------------------------
> TEL +1 206 203 5010     EMAIL   info at jttpatent.com
> FAX +1 206 203 5020     WEB     www.jttpatent.com
>
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