Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[ParadiseIP]

Another easy way to deal with the embedded fonts problem is to open the offending PDF file and then print it as a new PDF file (with a new name).  But before you print the new PDF, make sure that you are printing as image with 300dpi.  You can find this under the Advanced button in the Print window.  The new file will be fine with the PTO.

[dablueman]

The only formatting requirements I know of can be found in 37 CFR 1.52 (MPEP 608). There are some single column requirements for text but I've never spend the time to read the formatting requirements because adding a formatting objection for non-provisionals just seems too nitpicky for me.

[cordovan66]

I filed my first provisional patent application last night. Thanks for all your help.

The web site did give me a warning about the SB 16 form (cover sheet) not being one supplied by USPTO but I submitted it anyway. There appear to be multiple versions of SB 16 on their web site:

1) http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0016.pdf
2) http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0016_fill.pdf
3) http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/portal/efs/ProvisionalSB.pdf

I used 1). I printed it, filled it, scanned it and then uploaded the pdf.
2) and 3) appear to be electronically fillable pdfs. I didn't use them as I was unsure about the electronic signature part.

Will I be fine?

Does the USPTO check provisional applications even superficially? Will I know if there's something wrong with it? I know they won't read it in detail unless there's an interference.

Thanks again

[DogDayPM 9er9er9er]

Another easy way to deal with the embedded fonts problem is to open the offending PDF file and then print it as a new PDF file (with a new name).  But before you print the new PDF, make sure that you are printing as image with 300dpi.  You can find this under the Advanced button in the Print window.  The new file will be fine with the PTO.

Good point, but if you print to image/300dpi doesn't that increase the data size considerably?  I.e., using Cute or Adobe (with proper embed settings) I make a 200KB WORD doc into a (usually) < 200KB PDF file.

[DogDayPM 9er9er9er]

I filed my first provisional patent application last night. Thanks for all your help.

The web site did give me a warning about the SB 16 form (cover sheet) not being one supplied by USPTO but I submitted it anyway. There appear to be multiple versions of SB 16 on their web site:

1) http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0016.pdf
2) http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0016_fill.pdf
3) http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/portal/efs/ProvisionalSB.pdf

I used 1). I printed it, filled it, scanned it and then uploaded the pdf.
2) and 3) appear to be electronically fillable pdfs. I didn't use them as I was unsure about the electronic signature part.

Will I be fine?

Does the USPTO check provisional applications even superficially? Will I know if there's something wrong with it? I know they won't read it in detail unless there's an interference.

Thanks again

Congrats.  Superficial is a good word for the review done at PTO.  If you submit something purporting to be an application, name an inventor (with city/state) and pay the fee, I think that's about all they concern themselves with.  If what you're asking is - "I didn't notice it but my pdf somehow lost pages 6-9 or they somehow turned out to be blank sheets, will anyone at PTO notice?" - I am pretty sure the answer is "No, they won't".

Going back to an earlier question you posted and Jonathan commented on - notice the word used in the regulation is "should".  The 37 CFR dealing with patent matters is littered with "should"s.  Should means they'd like you to follow that instruction, but it has no force behind it.  Still, I think most practitioners attempt to comply with all the "should" suggestions.

[JimIvey]

Going back to an earlier question you posted and Jonathan commented on - notice the word used in the regulation is "should".  The 37 CFR dealing with patent matters is littered with "should"s.  Should means they'd like you to follow that instruction, but it has no force behind it.  Still, I think most practitioners attempt to comply with all the "should" suggestions.

Just to add even more comfort:  if the Office notices something they don't like, they'll typically give you an opportunity to fix it.  Don't expect any such guidance until they actually look at your application -- i.e., when it's no longer "provisional".

3) http://www.uspto.gov/ebc/portal/efs/ProvisionalSB.pdf

While I don't know this for fact, I suspect the preferred EFS forms are scraped by machine for the pertinent information.  So, they're processed faster and with less likelihood for human error.  If you ever wished you could enter the application information into the Patent Office's database(s) yourself to make sure it's correct, using an approved EFS form is probably the closest you're going to get any time soon. 

I don't think there'll be any probably with using the form you did.  I just think it's easier to use the EFS forms when one's available for your particular need.

One last point re drawings:  you'll be able to correct it as needed, but it's important that the details you need are clear in the Office's records.  If you file by paper, they scan the documents, and not very well.  Any photographic images (even screen captures) really ought to be included in a PDF by electronic conversion and filed electronically.  Otherwise, some of the details in your images might not show well in the Office files (though maybe they still keep paper originals somewhere, but who knows if the examiner will look that up).  Correcting (by supplying line drawings of the content of the images) might introduce new matter.  At least that's something I worry about when filing by paper.  Filing electronically gives them the same level of detail you see on your own monitor.

Regards.

[cordovan66]

Now that the provisional is filed, I thought of another claim I should have added to it. It's a one line addition but quite valuable I think.

What's the best way of adding it? I know I'm not allowed to modify the one already filed. I could file another provisional. It would look more understandable if the new provisional included the claims of the old one and added a new one. When I ultimately file a non-provisional, will I get to use the earlier priority date for the original claims and the later one for the one added claim?

I have three additional unrelated ideas I'd like to patent - all in the field of digital imaging. I'm wondering if I should file a rough provisional in each of them first and reserve a priority date and then file a better provisional later. Sort of a provisional provisional. I've seen some patent applications which claim the filing dates of multiple abandoned provisionals. Is this what these people are doing?

Thanks

[orangequant]

i was glad to hear that "scan target points" might not be important in efs-web (thanks)... i learned about them after creating my drawings and inserted them anyway, just in case... it would be a nightmare to do in Word (and convert to pdf), so i went back to original dwgs and thought i'd share an easy way to do it, as follows:
1. i'm using msPaint. all dwg canvases are same size. i created a new file (i'll call it a mask), put in the stp's where i wanted them, ctrl-a, ctrl-c to copy canvas with stp's.
2. opened each dwg, set to 'transparent' (lower left of toolbox), pasted in the mask, centered my drawings within the stp's if they were outside, save file.

Thanks again. One of the requirements on that formatting page says "Only a single column of text.". My document is two-column. Most patents in my field are two-column (for example patent 5652626). Surely the applications aren't made two-column by USPTO after submission, are they?

Also, according to http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/appxr_1_84.htm
Drawings should have "scan target points (i.e., cross-hairs) printed on two cater-corner margin corners". Is this really necessary? What do these look like?

Thanks

[khazzah]

NOTE you need to make sure specification ends on a page, then claims start on a new page, and abstract starts on its own page.  I.e., you can NOT have different types (spec-claim, or claim-abstract) on the same page.  This is true whether filing EFS-Web or on paper.

Note that a provisional isn't *required* to have to have claims, drawings, or abstract.

Therefore, to make my life easier I routinely file provisionals that contain description and drawings (plus claims if I have them) all in a single PDF. I tag the single PDF file as "Application Part - Specification".