Preface
This brief note is not legal advice and is for educational purposes only.
Brief Discussion
So you’re checking on Private PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) a case of yours and click on the First Action Prediction tab to check how long the estimate is till the case is examined like the example below where it’s noted as 7 months.
The next time you go to check the First Acton Prediction tab is missing/gone/not there. Two things are most likely, if the last time you checked the number of months was large, like 12 months or 36 months or more, it’s likely the USPTO website is messed up. In that case take a screen shot like above and email it to the EBC at EBC@uspto.gov and ask them where the First Action Prediction tab went. We’ve had cases where it takes months for them to eventually get it back. On the other hand if the last time you checked the number of months was under 12, like 7 or less, there’s a good possibility that an office action is on its way to you because they remove the First Action Prediction tab when an office action is imminent.
So now you know why the First Acton Prediction tab may be missing.
Conclusion
If the First Acton Prediction tab is missing/gone/not there then you may have an office action imminently.
