[Pct] Digitally signed PDF of certified copy of US priority document

[Carl Oppedahl]

A quarter century ago, more or less, some people from WIPO contacted me 
and said they were designing a thing that did not have a name, but that 
eventually came to be known as DAS.  They wanted to know my thoughts as 
to features that might be helpful.

What I told them was that what they were proposing to do was by far too 
complicated.  Everybody knows how to do cryptographic signatures using 
public-key encryption.  We could simply ask each Office of First Filing 
to publish a public key, and they would use their private key to e-sign 
the electronic certified copy.  The practitioner could then upload the 
cryptographically-signed electronic certified copy to the Office of 
Second Filing.  The OSF would go and download the OFF's public key from 
the web site of the OFF, and would confirm that the signature was indeed 
that of the OSF.  This would (a) prove that the signed file had not been 
tampered with along the way, and (b) prove that it really had come from 
the OFF.

The problem, apparently, was that what I said was false.  It is false to 
say "everybody knows how to do cryptographic signatures using public-key 
encryption".  You know how to do it, and I know how to do it.  But most 
patent offices apparently lacked anybody on staff that understood 
public-key crypto.

So the only choice was for WIPO to proceed with the design and 
construction of the system now known as DAS.  And so I handed over my 
list of features that needed to be provided.  These included:

  * Every time any Office retrieves, or attempts to retrieve, an ECC
    from DAS, it gets logged in a way that the practitioner can see.
  * Every time any Office retrieves, or attempts to retrieve, an ECC
    from DAS, an email gets sent to the practitioner.  (In other words,
    the OSF can be called out as a liar if it claims it was unable to
    retrieve the ECC.)
  * There needed to be a thing that is now known as Certificate of
    Availability.  (In other words, the OSF can be called out as a liar
    if it claims it was unable to retrieve the ECC.)
  * There needed to be a way that the practitioner could independently
    test to see whether the purported Access Code was indeed the actual
    Access Code.  (In other words, if foreign counsel mistyped the
    Access Code when passing it from the OFF to you, it would be found
    out that the mistyping happened.)

I am delighted to be able to report that the very nice people at WIPO 
did implement every feature that I specified.

But anyway, if you were to set a goal of (a) downloading a signed ECC 
from an OFF, and (b) uploading the signed ECC to the OSF, and (c) having 
it work ... you will fail at your goal.  It is exactly the series of 
steps that I said every Office ought to be competent to handle, a 
quarter of a century ago.   But you will not succeed.


On 6/4/2024 9:32 AM, Patent Lawyer via Pct wrote:
>
> Sounds like crap to me.
>
> Why would opening a document remove its digital signature?   And why 
> would they do that?  What if you want to check what’s on the CD before 
> sending it to WIPO?
>
> Perhaps someone here knows better, but, again, sounds like crap to me.
>
> *From: *Oppedahl Lists <pct-bounces at oppedahl-lists.com> on behalf of 
> Katherine Koenig via Pct <pct at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Reply-To: *"For users of the PCT and ePCT. This is not for laypersons 
> to seek legal advice." <pct at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Date: *Tuesday, June 4, 2024 at 11:25 AM
> *To: *for users of the Patent Cooperation Treaty <pct at oppedahl-lists.com>
> *Cc: *Katherine Koenig <katherine at koenigipworks.com>
> *Subject: *[Pct] Digitally signed PDF of certified copy of US priority 
> document
>
> A client filed a provisional pro se and then I came in at the 11^th 
> hour to file US utility and PCT applications.  Access to participating 
> offices was inadvertently _not_ provided by the client in the 
> provisional application.  The day before the provisional expired, I 
> filed a SB/39 form requesting access.  That hasn’t yet been processed 
> or approved (currently being escalated, however).
>
> Since DAS is not (yet) an option, I’m trying to figure out how to get 
> a certified copy of the US provisional to WIPO.  I’ve ordered both 
> hard copy and digital PDF copy on CD.  However, when I try to upload 
> the PDF document to ePCT, it’s rejected as not being digitally 
> signed.  I called Certified Copy Center and was told that the document 
> is digitally signed until you open the file on the CD.  Then the 
> digital signature mysteriously disappears, which is why it’s rejected 
> by ePCT when I open the file and try to upload it.  Instead, we’re 
> supposed to /_mail the CD_/ to WIPO so they can open it and see the 
> signature.  Does this make any sense to anyone?  Am I missing 
> something about how to upload a certified copy in ePCT as an Action?  
> It can’t be this hard.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Katherine
>
> Dr. Katherine Koenig
>
> /Registered Patent Attorney/
>
> Koenig IP Works, PLLC
>
> 2208 Mariner Dr.
>
> Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
>
> (954) 903-1699
>
> katherine at koenigipworks.com <mailto:katherine at koenigipworks.com>
>
> /Targeted Intellectual Property Strategy/
>
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