Understanding and using ePCT

Our most recent ePCT webinar happened on Wednesday, the 29th of August. There was only room for 1000 registrations for that webinar, and it was sold out. Were you among the many who were unable to register for that webinar because 1000 people signed up before you?

If so, then you have another chance. We will repeat this sold-out webinar on Wednesday, September 26. Again there will only be room for 1000 registrants, so don't be left out. We have scheduled this webinar for times when people in Europe and Asia are likely to be awake.

About the webinar. ePCT is WIPO's new system which permits applicants and practitioners to gain access to PCT patent applications within the International Bureau. Attend this webinar to learn why you should be using ePCT and to learn how to use ePCT. Learn Best Practices for the use of ePCT.

Corporate people -- Learn how your outside counsel can and should give you access to your PCT applications in ePCT. Learn how you can use ePCT to monitor the status of your PCT applications and to learn of significant events affecting your PCT applications. Learn how ePCT can inform you each time any new document is added to the file for any of your PCT applications.

Private firms -- Learn how you can give access through ePCT to your clients. Learn how you can give access to the foreign firms who will be entering the national phase from a PCT application according to your instructions. Learn how you can make use of ePCT when a foreign firm entrusts to you the task of entering the national stage from a PCT application.

Everyone -- Learn how you can use ePCT to gain access to information that you cannot get any other way -- not through Patentscope, not through PAIR. Learn how you can receive automatic updates of status for your PCT applications.

When? The starting time is 8:00 UTC (GMT) Wednesday, September 26, 2012. For your convenience we note that this starting time is the same as:

The webinar is scheduled to last 1¾ hours.

Note that when you sign up, you are signing up for the one time that the program is being offered. Do not think that we are offering webinars at seven different times. If you want to know what time the webinar will begin in your time zone, please click on the registration link and click on "Show in my Time Zone".

You can see:

WIPO first started beta-testing ePCT in January of 2011, at which time Oppedahl Patent Law Firm was among the handful of firms and companies invited to beta-test the system and to make suggestions for improvement. By now the people of OPLF have been using ePCT for more than a year. In this webinar, Professor Oppedahl draws upon more than a year and a half of intensive use of the ePCT system.

Who should attend this webinar?

Prerequisites. This webinar will assume that you already have at least a little familiarity with the PCT process. If you have e-filed at least one PCT application, or if you have followed at least one PCT application through its progress from filing to the 30-month date, then you have enough familiarity to be prepared for this webinar.

The faculty. Your professor is Carl OppedahlCarl Oppedahl, a partner in OPLF. Carl previously served as the chair of the AIPLA PCT Issues Committee and is now a member of the Board of Directors of AIPLA. He has spent more than twenty years writing and prosecuting patent applications for clients. He serves as an adjunct professor at University of Denver law school, teaching Advanced Patent Law.

After a previous version of this webinar was presented on March 28, 2012, attendees were asked to complete an evaluation. One of the questions was "would you recommend this webinar to others?" One hundred percent of the persons responding said "yes". Here were some of the detailed responses:

CLE accreditation?

CLE accreditation has been approved for California for 1¾ credits. In the short time between now and the webinar, it is unlikely that we will obtain accreditation in any additional states. We will provide a uniform certificate of attendance ("UCOA"). In the past we have sometimes heard from an attendee that he or she has been able to obtain CLE credit in his or her own state by submitting the UCOA to his or her own CLE authority. Please do not ask us to try to obtain CLE accreditation from other states.

In any event the way you will receive CLE credit, if at all, is by submitting the UCOA yourself to your state CLE agency.

Frequently asked questions

Q. Is this webinar only for US filers?

A. No. This webinar, and indeed the ePCT system, is for all PCT filers everywhere in the world, regardless of geographic location or choice of Receiving Office.

Cost? The webinar is free of charge.

How to sign up? To sign up, please click on the registration link. If you later find that you will be unable to attend, please use the cancellation link in your confirmation email to cancel your registration. This will free up one of the 1000 available signups for someone else.

Format. This program is a webinar, meaning a seminar offered over the Web. It is anticipated that at some law firm and corporate locations, the presentation-slide content of the webinar will be projected upon a screen in a conference room. Other attendees will view the presentation on their own computers.

Written materials will be provided (as a PDF file) shortly before the program.

Participants will be able to submit typed questions through the webinar system.

After the webinar has finished, participants will be requested to complete an online evaluation form.

Audio will be provided both through computer speakers and by means of dial-in telephone numbers. A user with a computer headset can use the headset to listen to the audio. Many attendees will find it convenient to receive the audio through their computer speakers, which is free of any per-minute charge. It will also be possible to dial in to a telephone conference bridge to receive the audio; this will be a toll call with regular per-minute long-distance telephone charges.

Cutoff time for registrations. The ability to register for the webinar will be turned off an hour or two in advance of the stated starting time of the webinar, or when the 1000 signups are gone, whichever happens first. We can offer no assurances that an attempted webinar registration during the two hours prior to a webinar will be successful.