More ADS fee traps!

Since the America Invents Act, the PTO has taken the position that the Application Data Sheet (ADS) will be the sheet that will be used to decide all of the applicant information. Previously, I blogged about the ADS fee trap that can occur when an inventor name is written incorrectly in the ADS. Now, I have recently been made aware of another fee trap.

For claims of domestic and foreign priority, the PTO will rely on the prior application information written in the ADS. Of course most practitioners continue to wisely include this information in the introductory paragraph of the specification for purposes of incorporation by reference. However, if the information is written incorrectly in the ADS (although it may be written correctly in the specification), the PTO will use the incorrect application information for the priority claim or deny the priority claim. If this mistake (or denial) is not noticed by applicant and corrected within 16 months from the priority date, the applicant will have to file a petition for late acceptance of priority claim and pay 1700 dollar fee if a large entity (850 for small entity).

This just shows again the importance of reviewing the ADS to make sure there are no typographical errors.