Office of Public Records
Public User’s Meeting
January 19, 2005
2:00 p.m. - Randolph Building Conference Center
The Public Users Meeting was held at 2:00 p.m. in the Randolph Building at
the Alexandria campus. Martha Sneed, Director of the Office of Public Information
Services, chaired the meeting. There were three (3) members of the public
in attendance and approximately eight (8) USPTO staff. Snow kept some South
Tower users from attending because the shuttle service was late or no-show
because of the snow and traffic tie-ups.
The Public had requested that representatives from the Trademark operations
be present for this meeting so that concerns about Trademark processes could
be addressed. Members of the public addressed their concerns directly to the
Trademark representatives. (Ron Sussman, Joan Axilbund, Marian Bruffy, Leslie
Bishop, Debbie Cohn). Mike Bevenour was present to answer questions regarding
building access.
Trademark Inquiries:
Question: Dates not matching between TICRS and PCTRAM: What
is public to use?
Response: PCTRAM date is the operative date (date of last
action, date mailed, etc) from which dates for response are derived. TICRS
shows the date that an action was created (paper was typed, sent to review,
etc) and will always precede the operative date on PCTRAM. Staff stated that
as of January 15 a new field was created called “last action date”
to clarify for users what the operative date is. Staff also indicated that
this information is on the web-based version of PCTRAM and that it is the
version available on UPWS.
Question: TICRS “Runtime error 384” on UPWS
Response: A fix has been identified and will be included
in the next release of TICRS.
Question: Will the January 28 push of TICRS to the Web cause
any problems for the internal system accessed by public users?
Response: Load testing and simulated load testing was done
for TICRS on the Web with no degradation found for Examiner usage. Web format
will follow the PAIR formation. Web will not be same as inside version of
TICRS. The internal version of TICRS has more functions for the user.
Question: Will the Control P function for printing single
pages be returned to use for printing single pages versus the total pages
only?
Response: (From OCIO/TSD’s Bob Tracy (CSC)) The CTRL-P
functionality has not been dropped. However, its behavior is affected by the
current focus in the TIR image display window. If the image area of the window
has focus and the display is an XML page, then CTRL-P will initiate the browser
print function. If any other part of the TIR window has focus then CTRL-P
will initiate the TIR print function. This is the normal behavior for the
browser control used to display the XML pages.
Mr. Tracy said that he will do further research to determine if he can block
the browser response to the CTRL-P and enable the TIR print functionality
for CTRL-P regardless of the current focus within the TIR window.
Question: Regarding TICRS quality: Is there any plan for
improved quality of scanning? Removal of duplicates, bad pages, etc?
Response: This is a policy question—should a contractor
be responsible for determining what is or isn’t necessary for scanning?
Question: Can Trademark files be scanned after the public
receives and returns a requested file, rather than prior to giving the file
to the requester?
Response: Debbie Cohn indicated that the proposed action
is being reviewed, and that the needs of the public are being considered.
An answer will be provided after review.
Question: File location/date—physical location vs
actual location—particularly for issued files.
Response: Trademarks believed that this was a matter of some
offices not using the proper transaction to wand files. Trademarks sent notice
out Wednesday evening to OPR and FIU advising of new transaction code to be
used when wanding files into location.
Question: Why are some files half electronic/half paper?
Particularly true with Post Registration and TTAB files. New paper comes in
electronically and rest of file is paper—doesn’t seem to be any
attempt to create one complete file either paper or electronic. Wouldn’t
this be a good time to scan the paper and make one complete electronic file?
Response: Trademarks indicated that this is true with regard
to registered files (that the official file in some cases is part paper and
part electronic), and that is why they are trying to speed up scanning.
Madison Building Concerns
Concern: Concerns were raised regarding restricted access
to Madison Building vs. other buildings. There were complaints about having
to go outside to go from Madison to an examiner building, and that there was
no way to get files from trademark attorneys or TTAB if no one in Madison
was answering their phone. They want the same access to Madison as they have
in examiner buildings. The request was made to have a security procedure where
frequent public users could get a higher level of clearance in order to have
less restricted access to the buildings.
Response: Mike Bevenour responded that practice in all buildings
is consistent--that if you want to go to upper floors to meet with staff,
you must be escorted. Mike indicated that he would investigate the possibility
of a special security clearance to provide less restricted access for public
users.
Public Search Facility Concerns
Question: Will network printing capability be enabled in
the South Tower facility?
Response: Martha Sneed clarified that network printing enabled
by UPWS 2.6 only applies to Alexandria location, not South Tower. She also
clarified when discussing the menu changes for 2.6 that there will be no EAST/WEST
on the UPWS in the ST. She also announced that 2.6 would be BETA tested by
public prior to deployment.
Question: Public asked for return of “word pad”
or similar capability to the UPWS and some way of being able to utilize a
write only A drive for note taking.
Response: This request will be reviewed.
The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 pm.
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