POPA Mail Bag
Introducing the POPA Mail Bag. This Newsfeed item will be a recurring feature, with content drawn from submissions to Contact POPA. POPA hopes to present thoughtful comments and questions on issues of importance to our members. Please feel free to contact POPA. POPA is commited to maintaining the confidentiality of our members and will not publish personal information.
This week, comments:
Training
I am a dues-paying member, and I would like for POPA to strongly push for proper training for new software tools. It is really unacceptable that we have gotten no training for PTI.
Other Time
All Work Related Tasks/Functions should be given appropriate Other Time if production is not given.
I am specifically thinking of the time it takes us to process after final amendments, although there are certainly other instances where this is an issue.
After we have made a "Final" decision, Applicant is enabled to file additional arguments that we must take the time to both consider and respond to if the arguments pertain to the claims which have been finally rejected.
I think the best way to drive this point home is to use a theoretical example. Say, for example, we should be given 1 hour of other timer per advisory action. If, in a given biweek, we had 80 after final amendments to work on, we would be granted a full biweek's worth of other time to process all 80 advisory actions. Instead, under the current system, we could potentially do an entire 80 hours of Examiner-related tasks and receive zero production and zero hours of other time.
Similarly, 0.25 production for most finals is simply not enough time, and we can work on finals for an entire biweek and fall behind in production, this again is not fair.
One final related note, while we receive 1 hour for writing up a Mailed Restriction Requirement, if we get an oral election we still have to write up the same restriction along with the FAOM and yet we get no additional time. If anything, it is actually more effort to review claims, then pause to try and get a hold of attorney, and then again write up restriction once we have found all of our art and are ready to write up the FAOM. We should get the hour no matter what for every election, whether in writing or for oral election.