[Patentpractice] Interesting notice from USPTO re data breach

[Carl Oppedahl]

My apologies to our CIO on this point.  It looks like "ugPto.gov" was 
the result of an OCR error by the original poster.  Attached is an 
actual Notice (not an OCR) that I received a few minutes ag through 
Patent Center on behalf of one of my clients.  As you can see, the email 
address was actually presented like this:

The CIO's Notice originally presented the email address in color.  But 
the CIO's patent Center system halftoned the document.  The halftoning 
makes the email address very blurry and this explains why the OCR failed.

On 4/28/2024 2:46 PM, Carl Oppedahl via Patentpractice wrote:
>
> This notice says:
>
>     Inquiries regarding this matter may be directed ... via email
>     addressed to ugPto.gov.
>
> I am pretty sure if I were to address email "to ugPto.gov" it would 
> fail to reach its destination.  This does not instill confidence in 
> our CIO.
>
> On 4/28/2024 3:39 AM, Dan Feigelson via Patentpractice wrote:
>> I got the following in one of my cases. Supposedly posted yesterday 
>> (Saturday, April 27)
>>
>> *Notice of Potential Erroneous Release of Patent Application Titles*
>>
>> On February 5, 2024, the United States Patent and Trademark Office 
>> (USPTO), replaced the Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) and 
>> Electronic Trademark Assignment System (ETAS) with Assignment Center.
>>
>> Between February 5, 2024 and March 29, 2024, the USPTO, 
>> unintentionally, through a computer programming error, permitted 
>> bibliographic information to be viewed by unauthorized individuals 
>> with access to registered Assignment Center accounts. This 
>> bibliographic information was limited to the application number (the 
>> two-digit series code plus the six-digit serial number) and title of 
>> the invention.
>>
>> You are receiving this notification because your application ’spatent 
>> title may have been viewed during that time frame by individual(s) 
>> who lacked permission to do so . The software error was first 
>> reproduced by USPTO on March 28, 2024, and was corrected on March 29, 
>> 2024. Only application numbers and titles were disclosed; it is 
>> important to note that your specification and claims were not part of 
>> the information made available and were not accessed.
>>
>> Any improper access of the application information between the dates 
>> of February 5, 2024 and March 29, 2024, is not considered a 
>> publication of such applications under 35 U.S.C. 122(b). No rights in 
>> United States patents are threatened by the access to unpublished 
>> applications. It is extremely unlikely that the title could disclose 
>> the invention in a way that would constitute patent- defeating prior 
>> art in any jurisdiction. To the extent any issue is raised, the USPTO 
>> will assist applicants by confirming that the disclosure was 
>> erroneous and inadvertent.
>>
>> We’re committed to data security and are taking enhanced steps to 
>> prevent incidents such as this from happening in the future. The 
>> USPTO sincerely regrets this error and is instituting more testing 
>> controls, both manual and automated testing, to prevent similar 
>> processing errors in the future.
>>
>> Inquiries regarding this matter may be directed to Mark Polutta, 
>> Senior Legal Advisor, at (571) 272-7709 or Andrew Stclair, Legal 
>> Advisor, at (571) 270-0238, both of the Office of Patent Legal 
>> Administration or via email addressed to ugPto.gov.
>>
>> Henry “Jamie” Holcombe
>> Chief Information Officer
>> US Patent and Trademark Office
>> Office +1 (571)272-9400
>>
>> Dated: April 27 th , 2024
>>
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20240429/7ac720c4/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: YJqXaqYPucqXhvSh.png
Type: image/png
Size: 51704 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20240429/7ac720c4/attachment.png>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: notice-of-revelation.PDF
Type: application/pdf
Size: 40539 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20240429/7ac720c4/attachment.pdf>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: smime.p7s
Type: application/pkcs7-signature
Size: 4514 bytes
Desc: S/MIME Cryptographic Signature
URL: <http://oppedahl-lists.com/pipermail/patentpractice_oppedahl-lists.com/attachments/20240429/7ac720c4/attachment.p7s>