TSDR API & Alt Legal
Alt Legal Team | May 07, 2019
Update: We’ve spoken with the USPTO’s leadership team, and they have been able to maintain access to the TSDR API. We will advise of any future changes!
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Early yesterday evening, the USPTO announced the immediate shutdown of the TSDR API, one of the primary and most complete sources of USPTO trademark data. The USPTO made this change in response to bad actors scraping the TSDR, which caused usability limitations and outages.
Unfortunately, this shutdown also affects a few key components of our software:
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Autotracking. The TSDR API was the only source of the data needed for autotracking. We are working to find a reliable alternative for this data, but for now autotracking is temporarily unavailable.
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Status and Deadline Updates. Our software currently relies on updating marks through the TSDR API because it was a more complete, streamlined record than other data sources. We have engineered a workaround that will allow us to continue updating your matters through other data sources.
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Trademark Details. The USPTO provides certain attributes of a trademark record only through the TSDR API. These attributes will not be available until we have access to the TSDR API or have found a sustainable workaround.
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Newly Filed Trademarks/Real-time Updates. Because we cannot access the TSDR API, we cannot access marks that appear in the TSDR until the day after they are entered. We also cannot update marks using the “update now” function, so actions you take on your marks with the USPTO will not be reflected in our software until the next day.
We apologize for the inconvenience. We did not anticipate such a sudden change by the USPTO, but our team is focused on implementing workarounds to minimize any disruption to our customers. Please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
– Nehal Madhani, CEO