The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) is implementing the PCT Informed Examination Request (PIER) Pilot Program to assess the inventory and efficiency impacts of requiring an applicant to request examination in view of applicable Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) international phase work products. The USPTO will select certain national stage patent applications […]
Director of the USPTO John A. Squires signed the first two patents of his tenure signaling the USPTO’s commitment to a “strong, robust, expansive, and resilient intellectual property system.” In the weeks that followed, the USPTO issued the In re Desjardins Appeals Review Panel decision, later designated precedential, clarifying that improvements to the functioning of machine learning […]
Starting on January 19, 2025 the USPTO will increase patent fees for filing and prosecution. The Notice is available in the USPTO web page (Fee-Setting web page) and in the Federal Register Notice. A detailed list of the increase fees is in the following spreadsheet. Please contact me for additional information.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently proposed a new fee structure for fiscal year 2025, which includes significant increases in various patent fees. One proposed change regards the introduction of new fees for continuation applications. If an applicant files a continuation application more than five years after the earliest claimed priority or benefit date, they will […]
As part of the continued move toward total electronic processing, the USPTO will issue certificates of correction for patents electronically beginning January 30, 2024. The electronic certificate of correction will be the official certificate of correction issued under seal as provided for by the applicable statute. The USPTO will make electronic certificates of correction available […]
Starting on January 17, 2024, non-provisional utility patent applications, with specification, claims and abstract in non DOCX filing formats, i.e., in PDF, will incur a surcharge of $400. An option for applicants to provide a backup PDF, or auxiliary PDF, version of their application with their DOCX version is available. There are no fees associated […]
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) published a final rule in the Federal Register on August 3, 2020, that includes a fee for patent applications that are not filed in the DOCX format. The fee only applies to non-provisional utility applications and not to design, plant, or provisional applications. The effective date of […]
On April 18, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will begin issuing electronic patent grants (eGrants) rather than paper patents. Part of this changeover involves modifying the Issue Fee Transmittal form (PTOL-85B) and its web-based version. The form no longer allows for advance orders of patent copies, because patents may be printed directly […]
To further advance its information technology strategy of achieving complete, beginning-to-end electronic processing of patent-related submissions, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a final rule to require that patent term extension (PTE) applications, interim PTE applications, and any PTE-related submissions to the USPTO be submitted electronically via the USPTO patent electronic […]
Beginning April 18, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is shifting towards issuing paper waste-reducing electronic patent grants (eGrants) to patent recipients—a new process that delivers the official copy of patent grants in an electronic format. A bound paper version as a ceremonial copy throughout a limited transition period will be provided, and […]