Public Records Division/Public Information Services Division

Public User's Meeting
April 16, 2008
2:00 p.m. Jefferson Building Conference Center

The Public User's Meeting was held at 2:00 p.m. in the 1st floor conference room 1D70/1D80 of the Jefferson Building at 500 Dulany Street on the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia. Martha Sneed, Manager of PISD, chaired the meeting. There were 3 members of the public in attendance.

PSF Update

There will be a public notice posted on Thursday, April 17 that announces the removal of two outdated assignment information sources, TM-Assign and Pat-Assign, from the UPWS menu as of April 28, 2008. The Assignment Historical Database (AHD) replaces them as the currently updated and maintained assignment database. A handout will be distributed with information for ways to access assignment data located in the Public Search Facility in all formats.

Question: Why can't there be a Cassis workstation in the Public Search Facility? Stand alone Cassis configured workstations are no longer supported by the agency's information technical infrastructure or IT Help Desk. For example, print page fee charge operation is not available.

Question: Is the index to the MPEP included in the regular updates? Yes. The index to MPEP is included in the bi-monthly updates.

Question: What will happen to the UPWS workstations in the Trademark Search Facility when it closes in September? These workstations will be designated as Agency surplus equipment as they are not needed at the Public Search Facility.

Question: Is the lighting experiment over in the PSF? Yes. The current lighting pattern will remain as is.

PRD Update

The on site construction at South Tower is nearly completed.

Per a previous complaint/request from users, corrections and file wrappers are being processed more efficiently and with faster turnarounds.

The Public User's meeting adjourned at 2:23pm. Next meeting date is May 21, 2008 in the Jefferson Conference Center room 1D70/1D80 at 2:00pm.