How in the world did I not know this?
If you have the Windows Calculator program running [in Windows Vista, 7 or later], and press “Control +E,” it gives you the ability to calculate the difference between two dates.
[Via: Reddit]
Updated 2012-03-14 to add information re versions of Windows, and to add a second screenshot.
Recently, I’ve been having issues with downloading documents from EFS-Web using Google Chrome.
I’m not the only one: Chrome Help Forum – Chrome stopped working to download PDFs from USPTO’s PAIR web site, says download “Interrupted”
It is a known bug they’ll fix in the next release of Chrome (later this year). The solution in the meantime (if you don’t mind running beta software) is to install the developer (beta) version of Chrome. See this post for instructions/more information.
[Update 2011-07-20: Remember that beta software can crash unexpectedly...something that is particularly frustrating if you are 3/4 of the way through filing a new trademark application. I have noted, at least on my computer, that beta Chrome, if it is going to crash, typically does so when I print something. Thus...I try not to use the print function when I'm doing something critical).
The additional benefit of the developer version of Chrome…printing has been improved. I no longer receive a blank second page when I print a one page email…
There are few things more painful than uploading documents via EFS-Web and receiving the dreaded warning that:
The attached PDF file does not follow the supported PDF specifications (Versions 1.1 to 1.6). Please remove file, recreate with a current version of PDF and reattach.
I truly wonder how many curse words (and holes punched in walls) those two sentences have caused in the last few years…
What is a “PDF specification”?
The “PDF specifications (Versions 1.1 to 1.6)” referred to are created (specified) by Adobe. Essentially, every time Adobe releases a new version of Acrobat/Acrobat Reader, new features are added and a new version of the specification is created. For instance [Via]:
What triggers the warning?
When you upload PDFs to EFS-Web, the USPTO checks to make sure the file uploaded complies with the USPTO’s “PDF Guidelines for EFS-Web.” If your file doesn’t comply, you receive the warning.
The problem is that Adobe is constantly fiddling with the specification, fixing bugs, plugging security holes, etc. It seems like every time they update Acrobat/Acrobat Reader, EFS-Web balks at the resulting file, thinking it does not comply with the currently accepted standards. Until someone at the USPTO determines what needs to be updated in the software…EFS-Web will give you the error. Over and over and over…
How can I force Adobe Acrobat (Version 9 Pro) to fix an existing PDF so I can upload it successfully?
In the menu bar, select “Advanced” and then “Preflight” (or just press Shift-Ctrl-X).
In Preflight, select “Acrobat/PDF version compatibility” and select “Compatible with Acrobat 7.”
Press the “Analyze and fix” button and Adobe with reformat the file to be compatible with Acrobat 7, savig it as a PDF 1.6 document.
Also see this blog post: PDF Creation and Font Embedding for USPTO Submissions.
What other options are there for working around the issue?
Sadly, those options won’t always work.
The take-away tip: do not allow your PDF generating software to automatically update itself. Instead, manually apply the updates after you double check to make sure that there are no issues with EFS-Web (or at least wait a few weeks). To check for issues, see the USPTO’s EFS-Web Announcements page.
[edited to add a link to EFS-Web Announcements 2011-04-29]
Hi. My name is Steve, and I’m a double spacer. I admit it.
I learned to type on an old IBM Selectric® typewriter (the vibrations of which I was sure would make me sterile) when I was in high school. One of the many rules hammered into each of our heads by business arts (I’m not sure they teach that at Hogwarts) teacher Mrs. Grove:
First shalt thou end each sentence with an appropriate punctuation mark. Then, shalt thou add two, no more, no less, spaces. Two shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be two. Three shalt thou not count, nor either count thou one, excepting that thou then proceed to two. Four is right out. Once the number two, being the second number, be reached, then proceedest thou to begin a subsequent sentence.
Or something like that…
I still do it that way today. Apparently, in a typewriter-less world…it is poor form. Dead wrong. I’m an embarrassment to society. At least according to Typography for Lawyers. Confirmed by Slate magazine.
I guess I better start reprogramming my brain.
For those of you playing along at home, here’s step one:
Microsoft Word Options menu–>Proofing–>When correcting spelling and grammar in Word–>Writing Style: Grammar & Style–>Settings–>Require–>Spaces required between sentences: 1.
I’m hoping that having Microsoft Word flag it…I’ll be able to start unlearning old (apparently bad) habits.
The Acrobat for Lawyers blog has a great post talking about “Federal Courts moving to requiring PDF/A for filings.”
One of the benefits of PDF/A is that it includes EMBEDDED FONTS. The article includes a section on “Creating an “Embed All” Setting”"…good reading for patent practitioners constantly struggling with EFS-Web validation issues.
See also my previous post: How to set up Adobe Acrobat to make EFS and the USPTO happy.
I recently wrote a three part series of articles for the Idaho State Bar’s magazine regarding how to deal with e-mail overload:
Let me know if you have any other tips for dealing with e-mail overload.
Set aside 10 minutes and watch this video (animation) based upon a short lecture by Daniel Pink on “What Motivates Us.” Great insight!
I added his book “Drive” to my list of books I recommend to inventors.
This month’s Kickstand meeting will cover “Capturing Intellectual Property,” via a presentation lead by Bill Meade and Bob Sesek of BasicIP, an intellectual property consulting firm.
For those of you in Boise, here are the quick details:
Full details: http://kickstand.org/BookingRetrieve.aspx?ID=90537
Date: 10-Jun-2010
What: Capturing Intellectual Property
When: Thursday, June 10, 2010 @ 5:30-7pm
Where: The WaterCooler
You asked, we listened. Join Kickstand June 10 for a meeting devoted to ‘Capturing Intellectual Property.’ It’s a topic many of our members have been asking for more information about, and was an issue discussed among many IdaVation attendees.
Featuring Bill Meade and Bob Sesek of Idaho-based BasicIP, an intellectual property consulting firm, June’s meeting will be highly interactive and directed by you, the attendees.
Bill and Bob have three topics they could address, and will leave it up to the attendees to choose one of the following at the start of the meeting:
#1 IP Management for Startups
#2 Capturing IP Once You’ve Started UP: Case Study
#3 Pocket Guide to Invention Workshops
Two of my recent articles from the Idaho State Bar’s monthly magazine are online now:
I’ve updated my IP Blogroll to include more of the IP blogs that I read every week. It is my personal “Best IP Blogs” list.
The blogroll can be found here: http://inventblog.com/ip-blogroll.
If you think I should be reading your IP blog (and you are not listed there)…please, send me an email (the chances are that I do read it…I just missed it in updating the page).
