“So You Think You’ve Done an Office Action…”

Today we had time for large group question and answers, something akin to diversity training, the second part of  “reporting out,” and a presentation on production.

The “reporting out” series was helpful, largely because it reinforced the ideas that:

  1. You won’t be writing an office action until your trainer has ascertained that you have a solid grasp on the application and your grounds for rejection or allowance.
  2. You are capable of doing the work in a largely independent fashion, even at this stage.
  3. You are expected to know when to ask for help, and help is available to you.
  4. You are not expected to know a great deal at this stage.

In addition, the lectures give us a sort of outline form to follow when reporting our cases to our trainers.  This helps us get our work done more efficiently, and allows our trainers to concentrate on trickier areas when they arise.

The diversity lecture was very funny, as was expected.

~Relativity

3 thoughts on ““So You Think You’ve Done an Office Action…””

  1. Hey I was just curious how long after you applied to be a patent examiner did you get called in for an interview. I submitted my application a month ago and got my notice of results and completed the questionaire. I called the USPTO hotline and they told me that it could take another 3-6 months before someone responds to my application. Does that sound right, and is there anyone else I can talk to about my application status?

  2. It varies by technology and need. It could take 3-6 months. That is definitely possible if you haven’t yet gotten an interview. One option is to go to a job fair, or to try to contact someone in the TC you want to work for. Otherwise, it can be hard to make things happen.

  3. I actually knew someone working at the Office when I applied, and emailed the person that recruited him. I got an interview within a week. There is a list of people to email somewhat based on technology on the recruiting webpage. Though as Relativity said, it is based on need, and they may not need people in certain technology areas at the moment.

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