"Lights Out: A Cyberattack ..." by Ted KoppelChristmas Eve 2015:  Why are the Internet services at the government patent offices in both the United States and Australia shut down right now?

Did you heed last month’s book release by Ted Koppel: “Lights Out
A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath

Remember my talk in July 2011: “Are you legally prepared for the coming cyberwar?”

Do the dots connect?

–Gerry J. Elman

Here’s the official announcement of the disaster at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as posted December 24, 2015 on  home page of www.uspto.gov

A major power outage at USPTO headquarters occurred Tuesday, December 22, resulting in damaged equipment that required the subsequent shutdown of many of our online and IT systems. This includes our filing, searching, and payment systems, as well as the systems our examiners across the country use. We are working diligently to assess the operational impact on all our systems and to determine how soon they can be safely brought back into service. Status updates and alternative filing methods can be found on our systems alert page (www.uspto.gov/blog/ebiz/) as they become available, as well as on our Facebook (www.facebook.com/uspto.gov) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/uspto) accounts.Thank you for your patience as we work to restore full service as soon as possible.
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And here is what “IP Australia,” the government patent office Down Under, is telling the public:

eServices and Business to business (B2B) will be unavailable until Monday 4 January 2016.

This outage is due to a system issue.

We will enable the Alternate Lodgement Service (ALS) for eServices during this outage. The ALS is a simplified version of eServices that allows electronic submissions during outages and downtime. You will be automatically redirected to the ALS if you attempt to access eServices during the outage period. You will need to agree to new terms and conditions to use the ALS and you will not be required to sign in.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience. If you require further information please email eservices@ipaustralia.gov.au.