[Patentpractice] USPTO blinks on September 27 shutdown (was USPTO enhances assignment records search process)
Carl Oppedahl
carl at oppedahl.com
Sat Sep 27 13:22:13 UTC 2025
Apparently nobody's boss at the USPTO ever says this to a developer of
any USPTO software system.
As a general rule, you can pick any user input field (to be populated by
some item of information) of any first present-day USPTO software
system, and you can find some second present-day USPTO system that
displays that item of information in a format that will make the first
system puke on it.
On 9/27/2025 6:27 AM, Orvis via Patentpractice wrote:
> I really hope you are wrong. Imagine your boss asking you "does the
> search really not work if the user inputs the exact number and format
> we use in our communications with the user?"
>
> Sep 27, 2025 8:04:55 AM David Boundy via Patentpractice
> <patentpractice at oppedahl-lists.com>:
>
> And the new system will have crazy and idisyncratic rules for
> entering seial numbers. Maybe you'll be requred to substite "/"
> characters with "#", or PCT seial numbers will have commas between
> every two digits. What assignment Center will NOT do is accept
> every fornat that PTO systems output, so we can reliably
> copy-and-paste.
>
>
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> On Sat, Sep 27, 2025, 4:50 AM Carl Oppedahl via Patentpractice
> <patentpractice at oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:
>
> Well, the USPTO seems to have blinked. The upheaval scheduled
> for September 27 has apparently been postponed until October
> 20. See blog article
> <https://blog.oppedahl.com/uspto-blinks-on-shutdown-of-familiar-assignment-searches/>.
>
> On 8/27/2025 3:13 PM, Carl Oppedahl via Patentpractice wrote:
>>
>> I think there is a typo in the headline and opening
>> sentences. What they meant to write is:
>>
>> *Things will be miserable on September 27*
>>
>> All of the existing ways of searching for assignments
>> will get shut down on September 27. A successor system
>> that has never been beta-tested will be turn on on
>> September 27. It won't work right.
>>
>> The new system will be harder to use and will require
>> that you log in and use two-factor authentication, even
>> when searching for information that is a matter of public
>> record.
>>
>> For a user who is trying to look up assignment
>> information for a PCT application, it will fail.
>>
>> For a user who is trying to look up assignment
>> information for a Hague application, it will fail.
>>
>> The new system will fail to correctly match up a
>> recordation against a PCT number with the corresponding
>> US national-phase application number.
>>
>> The new system will fail to correctly match up a
>> recordation against a US national-phase application
>> number with the corresponding PCT number.
>>
>> The new system will fail to correctly match up a
>> recordation against a Hague number with the
>> corresponding US designation (35-series) application number.
>>
>> The new system will fail to correctly match up a
>> recordation against a US designation (35-series)
>> application number with the corresponding Hague number.
>>
>> For a user who is trying to look up assignment
>> information for an application that has not been
>> published it will fail.
>>
>> Within a week or two, it will be discovered that the new
>> system has bugs that reveal applicant information that is
>> not supposed to be revealed, and parts of the new system
>> will have to be shut down abruptly.
>>
>> Weeks will pass before most of the bugs and defects in
>> the successor system are more or less corrected. Even
>> after half a year some bugs and defects will not have
>> been corrected.
>>
>> *
>> *
>>
>> On 8/27/2025 12:41 PM, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wrote:
>>> Assignment Search will be live effective September 27, 2025
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page
>>> <https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fcontent.govdelivery.com%2Faccounts%2FUSPTO%2Fbulletins%2F3efdd07/1/01000198ecd61ac8-0edaff98-b019-4408-a805-cafcfccf4819-000000/wb21iwIPvMeOGEhUERmlilCPCS1FxhebVjelf-nLoNY=420>.
>>>
>>>
>>> News Brief
>>>
>>>
>>> USPTO enhances assignment recordssearch process
>>>
>>> The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is streamlining
>>> the overall assignment search experience by replacing two
>>> legacy search applications—Patent Assignment Search and
>>> Assignments on the Web—with one, more reliable, secure, and
>>> easy to use Assignment Search application.
>>>
>>> Starting on September 27, 2025, Assignment Search will be
>>> live, and the two legacy systems will cease to be available.
>>> This new, web-based application provides customers seeking
>>> patent and trademark assignment information with reliable,
>>> detailed results via a modernized interface. Customers can
>>> perform basic searches and refine their searches using the
>>> filtering options available in the “advanced search” field
>>> of the tool.
>>>
>>> To improve the customer experience, all previous assignment
>>> services will be centrally located in Assignment Center. The
>>> new Assignment Search application can be found in
>>> *Assignment Center
>>> <https://links-1.govdelivery.com/CL0/https:%2F%2Fassignmentcenter.uspto.gov%2F%3Futm_campaign=subscriptioncenter%26utm_content=%26utm_medium=email%26utm_name=%26utm_source=govdelivery%26utm_term=/1/01000198ecd61ac8-0edaff98-b019-4408-a805-cafcfccf4819-000000/z8W_EfvTSARxBIa4gtdydrk3xJ0EWQqVbmClCXc_vhY=420>*on
>>> September 27, 2025.
>>>
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