EFS-Web Announcements

Advisory (17JAN2011): EFS-Web filers may use Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9.5 and 10.1.2 to complete EFS-Web Fillable Forms (eADS, eIDS, etc.). Previous versions remain compatible:
• 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4
• 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, 8.1.5, 8.1.6, 8.1.7, 8.2, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.2.4, 8.2.5, 8.2.6, 8.3, 8.3.1;
• 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.4, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.4, 9.4.5, 9.4.6, 9.4.7;
• 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.1, 10.1.1

Advisory (28DEC2011): EFS-Web filers may use Adobe Reader and Acrobat version 9.4.7 to complete EFS-Web Fillable Forms (eADS, eIDS, etc.). Previous versions remain compatible:
• 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4
• 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, 8.1.5, 8.1.6, 8.1.7, 8.2, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.2.4, 8.2.5, 8.2.6, 8.3, 8.3.1;
• 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.4, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.4, 9.4.5, 9.4.6, 9.4.7;
• 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.1, 10.1.1

Advisory (19DEC2011) The United States Patent and Trademark Office is pleased to announce the addition of two new beta ePetitions to EFS-Web.
>>For more information, please see the ePetition Resource Page. Please feel free to suggest any improvements and email them to ebc@uspto.gov

Advisory (29NOV2011): eTerminal Disclaimer (beta) Added to EFS-Web

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is pleased to announce the beta release of eTerminal Disclaimer in EFS-Web. The new eTerminal Disclaimer provides applicants with many advantages and promotes greater efficiency in the patent examination process. This web-based eTerminal Disclaimer can be filled out completely online through web-screens and no EFS-Web fillable forms are required. eTerminal Disclaimers are auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission if the request meets all of the requirements.

Fees must be paid immediately which will then provide users more financial flexibility. A paper filed Terminal Disclaimer requires a fee but does not guarantee a Terminal Disclaimer approval. Each eTerminal Disclaimer filed requires a single terminal disclaimer fee, but can include up to 50 “reference applications” and 50 "prior patents".

During the beta period, eTerminal Disclaimers cannot be filed to a patent application that has yet to be docketed to an examiner. Applicants can check the Transaction History Tab of Public or Private PAIR to determine if their application has been docketed to an examiner. To file a terminal disclaimer to an undocketed application, please complete form SB/25 or SB/26 and submit the forms for manual review.

The Quick Start Guide for eTerminal Disclaimer is available at:

www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp

For assistance with filing an eTerminal Disclaimer, or to suggest improvements, please call the Patent Electronic Business Center at 866-217-9197 (toll free) or send an email to EBC@uspto.gov

Advisory (18NOV2011):  EFS-Web and Private PAIR users may now download Java 6 Update 29 (released on 10/18/11). Please contact your IT department or follow the instructions provided at http://java.com/en/download/ to install the Java update.

Old bookmarks to EFS-Web and Private PAIR may not work after the update. Please create new bookmarks or clear your browser cache.

The USPTO is still working with Entrust to test the Java 7 patch. We will post an advisory to the public via the EFS-Web and Private PAIR announcement pages once Java 7 is supported.

Contact the Patent EBC at 1-866-217-9197 (toll-free) or ebc@uspto.gov if you need further assistance.

Advisory (16NOV2011): Due to system maintenance, EFS-Web, Private PAIR, and Digital Certificate Management (DCM) will be unavailable from 12:01 a.m. until 8 a.m. ET Friday, November 18.

Advisory (16NOV2011): Please refrain from installing Java 6 Update 29 and Java 7.
Java 7 (released on 7/28/11) and Java 6 Update 29 (released on 10/18/11) are incompatible with the current Entrust software version used by EFS-Web and Private PAIR for authentication. Unlike previous Java updates which were backwards compatible with Entrust authentication software, these particular updates require a software patch. The USPTO immediately contacted Entrust and received the necessary software patch for Java 6 Update 29 a few days later. The USPTO then commenced testing to ensure that EFS-Web and Private PAIR would work properly with the Entrust software update. At the time of this communication, the testing of EFS-Web and Private PAIR is near completion and the fix for Java 6 Update 29 is expected to be deployed into production within a week. The USPTO is still working with Entrust to test the Java 7 patch.

As soon as the problem was identified, the USPTO posted an advisory to the public via EFS-Web and Private PAIR announcement pages. Furthermore, the same advisory was posted within EFS-Web and Private PAIR systems upon login to warn users not to accept the latest Java update. In retrospect, due to the severity of this problem, the USPTO should have sent an email notification to all e-Commerce e-Alert subscribers and provided more detailed information along with the advisory announcement.

If you are unable to authenticate to EFS-Web and Private PAIR due the affected Java updates, please contact your IT department or follow the instructions provided at the Oracle URL below to uninstall the affected Java update and install the supported Java 6 update 26.

Applicants who have installed Java 7 or Java 6 update 29 will have the following error in their Java console:

Error authenticating user com.entrust.m.b: TruePassIOException: INCORRECT_STATE (AuthenticationServlet)

The most recent compatible version is Java 6 update 26. It can be downloaded from the following link: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javasebusiness/downloads/java-archive-downloads-javase6-419409.html#jre-6u26-oth-JPR

Applicants should select the "Windows Offline Installation" download option.

Contact the Patent EBC at 1-866-217-9197 (toll-free) or ebc@uspto.gov if you need further assistance.

Advisory (19OCT2011): Java 6 Update 29 and Java 7 are currently not compatible and not supported in EFS-Web and Private PAIR.