by: Robert Wagner, intellectual property attorney at Picadio Sneath Miller & Norton, P.C.
As discussed in an earlier post on this blog, the federal courts will be requiring all electronic filers to move to the PDF/A standard for ECF filings. The Western District of Pennsylvania announced that it is beginning its transition to this format now, and all filings starting on January 1, 2012 must be in the PDF/A standard (link to Court’s PDF announcement).
The PDF/A format should be a longer lasting file format that will allow attorneys and the public to access these records well into the future. The PDF/A standard requires that the files be self-contained and not refer to use any information outside of the file itself. So, all the fonts and other information will be embedded inside the file. There are two types of PDF/A formats—the PDF/A-1a and PDF/A-1b formats. The “a” format requires strict tagging of information, while the “b” format is less stringent. As a practical matter, one will likely need the original source file (for example, the original Microsoft Word file) to create a PDF/A-1a file. This will make it more difficult to convert standard PDF files into PDF/A-1a files. On the other hand, because the PDF/A-1b format is more forgiving, and it should be possible to convert standard PDF files into this format. It appears that the federal courts will accept either PDF/A format.
There are a variety of websites offering advice and tutorials to help ease the transition to the PDF/A format. The Adobe Acrobat for Legal Professionals website recently posted a tutorial on using the save as feature in Acrobat 9 and X to create or convert files into the PDF/A format. It also hosted a webcast on the topic that can be viewed here.
For additional information:
RSS - Posts
Pingback: Federal Courts to Move to PDF/A for CM/ECF Filings | PIT IP Tech Blog