| Benefit Claims, Priority, Electronic Exchange of Documents |
Referenced Items (203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218) |
(204) Change in the Electronic Retrieval Method for Priority Documents between
the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the State Intellectual
Property Office of the People's Republic of China
Effective September 1, 2018, electronic retrievals of priority documents
between the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and the State
Intellectual Property Office of the People's Republic of China (SIPO) will
be managed via the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Digital
Access Service (DAS), in accordance with the WIPO DAS agreement established
on April 20, 2009.
The certified copy requirement is considered satisfied when a priority
document is retrieved electronically via the WIPO DAS service during
pendency of the U.S. application. There is no fee for this service and
participation for a particular application is voluntary.
For applications filed on or after September 1, 2018, in addition to the
priority claim (including the country (two letter code CN), application
number and filing date), the applicant must provide the WIPO DAS access
code associated with the priority application that is to be retrieved via
the WIPO DAS service. The WIPO DAS access code increases security as a
third validation point for each application along with the application
number and filing date.
For applications filed prior to September 1, 2018, the WIPO DAS access
code will not be required; however, applicants are encouraged to begin
voluntarily providing the WIPO DAS access code for CN priority applications
immediately. This practice will prepare the applicant for the switch to
WIPO DAS. Also, having the WIPO DAS access code should reduce potential
delays that may occur if electronic retrieval is attempted by the USPTO on
or after September 1, 2018. The Foreign Priority Information Section of the
Application Data Sheet (ADS) includes an Access Code field for this
purpose.
Acknowledgement of the WIPO DAS access code will begin appearing on the
U.S. application filing receipts processed on September 1, 2018.
Specifically, the priority claim to an application filed with the SIPO
will include either "Access code provided" or "No access code provided," as
appropriate. Applicants are encouraged to review the U.S. application
filing receipt to verify acknowledgement by the USPTO.
At the time of this notice, the USPTO deposits via the WIPO DAS
certified copies of U.S. national patent applications as priority
documents; and, does not deposit U.S. design applications or international
applications filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty with the USPTO as
receiving office (RO/US). Conversely, the SIPO deposits via the WIPO DAS
certified copies of patent, utility model and industrial design
applications as priority documents, including international applications
filed under the Patent Cooperation Treaty with the SIPO as receiving office
(RO/CN). Therefore, the priority claim and the WIPO DAS access code must be
furnished for each SIPO application that the applicant wishes the USPTO to
attempt retrieval via the WIPO DAS. The scope of priority documents that
are deposited by the participating offices can be found at the WIPO DAS
site (http://www.wipo.int/das/en/participating_offices.html).
Applicants are advised that they continue to bear the ultimate
responsibility for ensuring that the priority document is filed by the time
limit set forth in 37 CFR 1.55.
Further information on priority document exchange via the WIPO DAS
service is available at: https://www.uspto.gov/patents-getting-started/
international-protection/electronic-priority-document-exchange-pdx.
Questions about this announcement may be directed to Nelson Yang, Acting
Director, Office of International Business Solutions, 571-272-0826, or
Tamara Graysay, Special Program Examiner, International Patent Legal
Administration, 571-272-6728. Comments may be directed to the Priority
Document electronic mailbox at pdx@uspto.gov. Electronic mailbox inquiries
are returned within one business day.
[1453 OG 58]
Top of Notices (204) December 29, 2020