United States Patent and Trademark Office OG Notices: 15 October 2002

                USPTO No Longer Offers Interim Procedures for
                         Submissions on Compact Disc


   The USPTO offered as an interim procedure, expedited testing of
submissions of sequence listings, tables and computer programs on
compact disc. See 1243 OG 1008 (2/20/01) and 37 CFR 1.52(e). The
interim testing procedure will be discontinued immediately upon
publication of this notice.

   The experience of the USPTO during the testing program has been
that compact discs are a reliable medium for patent application
submission. In view of the proven reliability of compact disc media,
requests for the testing service have diminished to about one request
every six months. The last substantial use of this service occurred
last year. The Office of Initial Patent Examination (OIPE) received
only two inquiries after the substantial use that occurred last year.

   Since the USPTO has received very little response for this
service, our customers will be better served if OIPE resources are no
longer diverted from normal processing. Compact discs are routinely
tested for readability in the normal course of business; only the
expedited service is being suspended.

   Questions on this notice may be addressed to Michael L. Lewis,
Office of Patent Legal Administration., USPTO at
Michael.Lewis@USPTO.gov or (703) 306-5585.

September 13, 2002                                         THOMAS L. KOONTZ
                             Director, Office of Initial Patent Examination