Have you checked the option "Check uppercase words"? (See menu "Tools - Options - Language Settings - Writing Aids - Options")

I am using:
Windows 7 Enterprise Service Pack 1
AOO411m6(Build:9775)  -  Rev. 1617669
Default language setting: English (US) 

While trying to reproduce this bug I found different ways of making the spell checker behave incorrectly and inconsistently. So please bare with me!

Steps for reproduction:
1. Use “Tools”-menu in Open Office and select “Options”.
2. Expand “Language Settings” and select “Writing Aids”.
3. Make sure that “Check uppercase words” is disabled under “Options”.
Note! This option is disabled as default and valid for all Open Office applications (it's not set per document.) 
4. Click OK and open a new document in Writer.
5. Type “UPERCASE” and check spelling with F7, via the “Tools”-menu or the ABC-icon (with the green check mark) on the tool bar => “The spell check is complete” (same result will be seen regardless how spell check is started.) 

This is correct behavior. “Check uppercase words” was disabled.

6. Repeat step 1-2 (without closing or exiting Writer), but now enable “Check uppercase words” and check spelling (F7) => “The spell check is complete”. 

This is incorrect behavior.  “Check uppercase words” was enabled.

7. Save the document in ODT-format and close Writer (without exiting Open Office).
8. Re-open the document and check spelling again => “The spell check is complete”. 

This is incorrect behavior. “Check uppercase words” was still enabled.

9. Instead of step 8, exit Open Office completely, re-open the document and check spelling again => Spell checker suggests “UPPERCASE” instead.

This is correct behavior. “Check uppercase words” was still enabled.

10. Repeat step 7-8 or 9 => Spell checker suggests “UPPERCASE” instead.

This is correct behavior. “Check uppercase words” was still enabled.

11. Repeat step 10 but disable “Check uppercase words” before checking spelling => Spell checker still suggests “UPPERCASE”.

This is incorrect behavior. “Check uppercase words” was disabled.

12. Repeat step 6 => Spell checker opens an additional dialog box “Continue checking at beginning of document?” 

This is inconsistent with previous behavior.

13. Click “Yes” =>  “The spell check is complete”. 

This is incorrect behavior. “Check uppercase words” was enabled.


When testing the same steps as above but changing the text to “Uppercase123” and enabling “Check words with numbers” in the spell checker options (in the same menu, see step 1-3) , then this works as expected. In this case it seems that it is no problem with the fact that Writer is already open.  

I reproduced all steps above on Open Office 4.1.0 as well, and from the database it seems as it has been reported before on 3.4.0: https://issues.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=120386

I also tested the behavior in Microsoft Word (version 14.0.6023.1000) with ODT-, DOCX- and DOC-files. In Word you can enable and disable upper case checking as well (“Ignore words in UPPERCASE” is disabled by default, so Word actually checks uppercase words as default). See also “Select the spelling correction options that affect all Microsoft Office programs” in Word Help.

I can confirm that this bug is independent of which OO application that is used (Writer, Draw, Impress etc). Therefore the bug should be considered as general to Open Office. For some reason Open Office cannot handle spell checks of uppercase words correctly when this option is enabled or disabled while the application is still open. To exit Open Office seems to be a work around for now, if you want to use or stop using spell check of uppercase words. This is not so user friendly as a long term solution.

For more information, see “Choosing language settings” in the OO user guide: https://wiki.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/OOo3_User_Guides/Getting_Started/Choosing_language_settings