Vaccine Mandate
There has been some confusion with DOC sending out emails as well as USPTO. All USPTO employees are required to complete the USPTO vaccine form by November 10, 2021. Please complete the form and do not wait until you hear about approval/disapproval of your RA or RRA request or wait to get medical documentation. There is an option on the form that you have requested an exemption and you can upload your confirmation email from OEEOD.
The system takes jpegs for the documentation so you can use a photo taken on your cell phone if you don't have a scanner.
The agency will be sending reminder emails to employees who have not completed the form weekly until the deadline. These emails are directed to employees who have not completed the form. So if you get a reminder email, the agency does not have a record of you completeing the form. The attestation forms we filled out this summer do not count, you must complete the current form and upload the documentation as needed.
Phase 3
There have been no updates on when the office will move into Phase 3. It is dependent on the virus and transmission levels and other factors. Employees will get 60 days advance notice before we move into Phase 3 and employees are required to return to campus as mentioned in a previous email from Fred Steckler (see USPTO Broadcast email sent on 9/3/2021).
RSP
RSP has not been working since October 8, 2021. POPA asked for notification to all employees and management sent out a service advisory informing all employees of the outage. POPA also asked for management to take down the tool until it has been fixed. Please make sure you are keeping track of your time. Management still has a system for tracking your time.
ISP Reimbursement Settlement
This is only for production non-PHP POPA-covered employees who submitted a request by the July 30, 2021 deadline. All employees who filed a proper settlement request should have received the money. If you filed a proper request and have not received the money yet, send an email to popahelp@popa.org with the subject line "ISP reimbursement settlement" and attach the confirmation email you received when you applied. We will then send those names to management to check on and give us an update. Please don't send your name if you don't want us to give your name to management.
For non-PHP POPA-covered employees covered under the settlement, you can apply for ISP reimbursement for the period of time from June 2021 until we return to the office in Phase 3 using the email you should have received from the "Patents ISP Reimbursement" mailbox and signed by Time Callahan around September 29, 2021.
POPA Annual Meeting
Our annual meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday, December 2, 2021, starting at 3pm ET. The meeting will once again be held virtually. A link for the meeting will be sent using the USPTO email just before the meeting. There is no non-production time available for this meeting.