[Patentcenter] patent crapper offline?

[Gerry Peters]

Hi Dan,

See posts from last few days with subject lines like "[Patentcenter]
401 Forbidden," "[Patentcenter] PatentCenter choking for anyone else?,"
and "[Patentcenter] Patent Center Access" for similar reports and
possible workarounds from others. 

To add my own report and personal superstitions for warding off
PatentCenter gremlins, I used Chrome today to log into PatentCenter
and was able to successfully upload an OA Response, but I had a 401
error when I started (probably was in cache from last time I used
PatentCenter), and I had a 401 error after logging out.

To get around the first 401 error (the one I'm thinking was in my
browser's cache), instead of entering https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/
as I usually do, I tried https://patentcenter.uspto.gov
(dropped forward slash at end of URL), which got me in. 

My tentative conclusion is if you mix it up, you can confuse
PatentCenter into letting you log in (like New Yorkers who signal the
wrong way to head-fake other drivers). 

But seriously, this observation suggests to me that something is going
on with the cache or with DNS (e.g., it may be that PatentCenter's
way of avoiding being DDOSed is to temporarily blacklist anyone and
everyone who logs off (or is force-logged-off by) PatentCenter. 

If my theory (okay, superstition) is correct, then another way in
which you might "mix it up" -- besides coming in through the "back
door" of AssignmentCenter or FinancialManager as mentioned by others --
would be to try instead coming in through the "side door" by prefixing
the URL with http instead of https (I'm assuming that you'll get a
redirect from http to https; the only purpose here is to confuse
PatentCenter into letting you log in).

A second observation I made today is that I also got the 401 error
again when I signed out at the end of my session (as I had
during the previous session from a couple of day ago as well), but this
time I don't think it was just a simple cache issue, because multiple
attempts to get back into the login page (I am in the habit of doing
this for myself -- so it is there for me next time -- because
PatentCenter doesn't have the courtesy to return my browser tab to the
login page by itself) similarly resulted in the 401 error, which is
what led me to my latest theory, which is that PatentCenter is
automatically temporarily blacklisting IP addresses a bit too lightly. 

Not sure what the blacklist reset time is (assuming that is what is
going on), but anyone having trouble might try taking a break for
a few minutes (*) before trying again ... or try using Tor or a VPN to
change your IP address if in a hurry.

(*)  Ah, but if true, how long is the blacklist reset period? ...And
note that if this is what is going on, repeated attempts before
expiration of the blacklist timeout will presumably only cause the ban
to be reimposed (and perhaps increased in length in response to
the number of failed login attempts)...

---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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>> d4b84bd9-1206-48d7-b858-f2fd623c9e8a at smtp-relay.sendinblue.com <<

Date: Thu, 31 Oct 2024 12:33:30 +0200
From: Dan Feigelson via Patentcenter <patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com>
To: "users of Patentcenter" <patentcenter at oppedahl-lists.com>
Cc: Dan Feigelson <djf at iliplaw.com>
Subject: [Patentcenter] patent crapper offline?

I'm trying to get into p.c., but when I click on the link to p.c. under
"quicklinks", I get nothing, with this in the address part of the
browser: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/401

Just me?

Of course, the systems status page is all Han Solo - "everything ok,
here, no outages, how are you?"


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>> d4b84bd9-1206-48d7-b858-f2fd623c9e8a at smtp-relay.sendinblue.com <<