USPTO moves towards electronic patent filing -- questions PDF ambiguity.

Carl Oppedahl runs the extremely helpful e-filing listserv from his site www.patents.com.  Most recently, Mr. Oppedahl has provided a brief summary and analysis of the PTO’s next steps in the inevitable move to electronic patent filings.

• The PTO is worried about whether the PDF format is good enough — for instance, there are cases where PDF printouts vary according to the system doing the printing.  The PTO would like comments on this issue.
• A web-based electronic filing system will be in beta testing this fall for a limited number of participants.
• The beta system includes electronic filing of IDS forms.
• Mr. Oppedahl expects the web-based filing system to be wildly successful.

Files & Links:

• File Attachment: Oppedahl Letter.pdf (4 KB)
• EFS Users Resource Page