EPO - Discussion forums

I've scanned through the previous posts and can't find this topic addressed, I hope it's in the right place.

While I welcome electronic filing, I do find the current system rather cumbersome; I have two major criticisms -

i) Is it really necessary to have a smartcard? I understand that there are concerns about the confidentiality of unpublished patent applications, but I can securely log on and make payments on my credit card accounts, foreign currency services, bank accounts etc, just by using a password. Are patent applications really more sensitive than people's money?

ii) Is it really necessary to have the filing software on our computers? Couldn't it all be on the server side, accessible through a web browser, like when one files a community trade mark online? Installing updates is a real hassle, it would make more sense if this could be done once by the EPO rather than hundreds of times by each user.

I'm sure that I've missed some important considerations, but I would be interested to know what they are, if I understood the reasoning I would be more phlegmatic when struggling with online filing.

I agree with the points made by pnh, particularly the web interface idea - eliminating the deployment of the client software.

I also have some suggestions:

1. Ability to run backups via command line, rather that manually (enabling schedule backups).

2. Potentially Active Directory integration for security, so administration can be centralised and we do not have to maintain a totally separate set of usernames and passwords.

3. More detailed logs (to assist troubleshooting). I find the current logs of no use when we encounter errors.

A web based version is in the pipeline. When, I cannot say.

pnh wrote:I've scanned through the previous posts and can't find this topic addressed, I hope it's in the right place.

While I welcome electronic filing, I do find the current system rather cumbersome; I have two major criticisms -

i) Is it really necessary to have a smartcard? I understand that there are concerns about the confidentiality of unpublished patent applications, but I can securely log on and make payments on my credit card accounts, foreign currency services, bank accounts etc, just by using a password. Are patent applications really more sensitive than people's money?

ii) Is it really necessary to have the filing software on our computers? Couldn't it all be on the server side, accessible through a web browser, like when one files a community trade mark online? Installing updates is a real hassle, it would make more sense if this could be done once by the EPO rather than hundreds of times by each user.

I'm sure that I've missed some important considerations, but I would be interested to know what they are, if I understood the reasoning I would be more phlegmatic when struggling with online filing.

Oliver wrote:I agree with the points made by pnh, particularly the web interface idea - eliminating the deployment of the client software.

2. Potentially Active Directory integration for security, so administration can be centralised and we do not have to maintain a totally separate set of usernames and passwords.

If you are going to make a solution web based, i.e. platform independent, then you need to find another way of providing security than AD. AD only works on Windows platforms (well it can be emulated on *nix platforms, but there are always the gotchas). You also need to provide a completely independent ORB layer (if you're providing multi-tier application support). There are many ways to do this today without whilst remaining platform/architecture independent.

This is IMHO where the EPO needs to be thinking for the future versions.

Alex Thurgood

All,

http://docs.epoline.org/security/FAQ_smart_cards_EN.pdf

point 5 explains why the EPO opts for the use of smartcards.

Web-based portal service for online filing is in the pipeline and will surface probably this year - but also there the smartcard will be required.

The AD solution can only apply to local systems access control and thus appears a valid change request. For the transaction though it is currently not foreseen to replace the smartcard use when going through the internet.

Thorsten