Office of Public Records/Office of Public Information Services
Public User’s Meeting
February 15, 2006
2:00 p.m. - Remsen Building Conference Center

The Public Users Meeting was held at 2:00 p.m. in the 1st floor conference room 1B25 in the Public Search Facility, Madison Building East on the USPTO campus in Alexandria, Virginia. Martha Sneed, PISD Manager, chaired the meeting. There were 3 members of the public in attendance and 6 USPTO staff.

Announcements

John Hassett will resume having FIU public user meetings, but on a quarterly basis.

Public Search Facility Updates

The Global IP Academy is scheduled to open 12/01/06 on the second floor of the PSF. Question: How much search room space will be given over to the Global IP? Answer: Approximately half of the second floor.

Improvements in the signage of the PSF will include location of telephones, cashier, restrooms, etc. More ways to improve signs and sign locations are being worked out with the PSF designers.

Messages were being run on workstations to remind users to renew online access cards. This past Monday was the last day.

There was a power outage in South Tower (ST) on Monday, Feb. 13, 2006. Systems were down for most of the day and disruptions in telephone access for ECC lines. A customer experienced problems when calling licensing and review at the USPTO. The explanation may have been a combination of the power outages and the unscheduled leave policy initiated by OPM due to the inclement weather.

UPWS will begin public beta testing on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2006, for Pub EAST to run for 2 weeks. Beta stations 2 to 12 on the first floor of PSF will be used. If no major problems materialize through the testing, it should be available for general use beginning the following week. Notices will be posted.

Last week UPWS was down approximately 1½ hour due to a system problem.

TM OG on the UPWS should be coming soon. There is no set date yet. The full electronic back file will be available going back to 2001.

Public Records Division Updates

Question: New assignment images are not coming up readily, why is that? Answer: The reels are not released until completed and quality reviewed so the images are not readily available. There is a slight time lag between when the assignment is published and completion of reel processing.

A customer also voiced a request for wireless access in South Tower.

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 2:30pm.

Next meeting will be on Wednesday, Mar. 15, 2006, at 2:00pm, in the Remsen Building, Room 1D04/1D14, 400 Dulany St.

KEY: =online business system =fees =forms=help =laws/regulations =definition (glossary)

Is there a question about what the USPTO can or cannot do that you cannot find an answer for? Send questions about USPTO programs and services to the USPTO Contact Center (UCC). You can suggest USPTO webpages or material you would like featured on this section by E-mail to the webmaster@uspto.gov. While we cannot promise to accommodate all requests, your suggestions will be considered and may lead to other improvements on the website.