USPTO Systems Status and Availability

Friday Jul 29, 2016

Pay.gov and Systems Maintenances and MyUSPTO Password Resets

Pay.gov Maintenance

Pay.gov will undergo maintenance beginning at 6 p.m. and ending at 7 p.m., Saturday, July 30 ET.  

All USPTO storefronts are expected to remain available. However, credit/debit card payment processing through all USPTO storefronts will be unavailable during the maintenance period.  

Please submit payment using an alternative payment method, such as:

For Patents Customers:

  • by paying online with an established deposit account or EFT account via EFS-Web and the Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront.
  • by attaching a fee transmittal form (e.g., PTO/SB/17) with deposit account authorization in EFS-Web.
  • by faxing in a credit card authorization form PTO-2038 to the USPTO Central Fax 571-273-8300.
  • or by sending in a credit card authorization form PTO-2038 through Priority Mail Express(formerly Express Mail) from the United States Postal Services (USPS) in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10.

Facsimile submission of the basic national fee for national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371 is not accepted. Submissions that require successful online payment, such as ePetitions and Pre-grant publication submissions, will be unavailable during the maintenance period.

 If you have any questions, contact the Patent EBC by phone at 866-217-9197 or by email at ebc@uspto.gov.

For Trademarks Customers:

If your deadline is today and the document requiring a fee payment cannot be filed electronically, you must use an alternative method of filing. Please visit the Outage Page for information concerning Trademark alternative filing methods.

If you have any specific questions regarding TEAS/TEASi, contact the TEAS Team by email at TEAS@uspto.gov (link sends e-mail).

ESTTA users may submit payments using alternate methods.

All customers with an established deposit account or EFT account will still be able to pay the required fees via those accounts. In addition, forms that do not require a fee payment can still be filed.

For TTAB Customers:

If your deadline is today and a document requiring a fee payment cannot be filed electronically prior to midnight, you must submit your filing by mail. This outage does not impact ESTTA forms that do not require a filing fee. Oppositions or extensions of time to oppose § 66(a) applications must befiled electronically.

System Maintenance

The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting several systems beginning at 12:01 a.m. and ending at 11:59 p.m., Saturday, July 30 ET.

Outage duration: 24 hours

The following systems will be unavailable during the maintenance:

  • Electronic Filing System-Web (EFS-Web)
  • Electronic Filing System-Web Contingency (EFS-Web Contingency)
  • Adjudicated Case Tracking System (ACTS)
  • Application Images on the Web (AIW)
  • Assignments on the Web (AOTW)
  • Application Full Text on the Web (AppFT)  
  • Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA)
  • Electronic Patents Assignment System (EPAS) 
  • Electronic Trademark Assignment System (ETAS)
  • MyUSPTO.gov
  • Order Entry Management System (OEMS)
  • Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR)
  • Patent Full Text  Search (PatFT)
  • Trademark Design Search Code Manual (TDSCM)
  • Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)
  • Trademark Electronic Application System  (International) (TEASi)
  • Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP)
  • Trademark Electronic Official Gazette (TMOG)
  • Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
  •  Trademark Identification Manual (TIDM)
  • Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR)
  • Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Manual of Procedure (TBMP)
  • Trademark Trials and Appeals and Appeal Board Viewing System (TTABVUE)
  • USPTO Contact Center
  • Financial Manager
  • Patent Images on the Web (PIW)
  • Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
  • USPTO.gov Accounts
  • Revenue Accounting and Management System (RAM)

The maintenance will also cause interruptions to users of the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board End to End (PTAB E2E).

For EFS-Web Customers:

During the maintenance period, applicants may file new patent applications, new international design applications and documents and fees for national stage entry under 35 U.S.C. 371 via Priority Mail Express® from the United States Postal Service (USPS) in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10. Applicants may file other documents or fee payments by:

  1. First class mail with a certificate of mailing in accordance with 37 CFR 1.8, or
  2. Priority Mail Express ® from UPS in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10.

Please note that filing of a new international (PCT) application or a new application under 35 USC 111(a), except reissue, design or plant applications, other than by the Office’s electronic filing system requires payment of the non-electronic filing fee (37 CFR 1.16(t) and 1.445(a)(1)(ii)) in addition to the other required fees. The non-electronic filing fee is $400 ($200 for small and micro entities). Also please note that an international design application filed in paper may be subject to additional WIPO publication fees.  

New patent applications, new international design applications, copies of the international (PCT) application and basic national fee necessary to enter the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371, and documents that are required to establish the filing date of an application (e.g., a missing drawing figure or page of the specification) cannot be submitted by facsimile transmission, and certificate of mailing procedures under 37 CFR 1.8 do not apply to these documents. Patent correspondence, including new patent applications, new international design applications, and documents or fee payments, cannot be submitted via email.

If you have any questions regarding alternative filing methods, please contact the USPTO Inventor’s Assistance Center during business hours (Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET) at 1-800-786-9199. Information regarding filing by first class mail with a certificate of mailing or by Priority Mail Express can also be found in the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), Sections 512 and 513. Applicants are strongly advised to transmit their electronic filings prior to the outage period to ensure that the submissions are correctly completed.

If you have questions, please contact the EBC at 1-866-217-9197 or ebc@uspto.gov.

For TEAS Applicants:

Please be advised that when a filing deadline that falls on Saturday or Sunday, the filing may be made on Monday. Visit 37 C.F.R. §2.196 for more information. 

For additional information on filing during system outages, see the Trademark alternative filing methods webpage. If you have any questions regarding alternative filing methods for TEAS/TEASi, please contact TEAS@uspto.gov.

For TTAB Customers:

If your deadline is today and a document requiring a fee payment cannot be filed electronically prior to midnight, you must submit your filing by mail. This outage does not impact ESTTA forms that do not require a filing fee. Oppositions or extensions of time to oppose § 66(a) applications must be filed electronically.

Systems Maintenance

The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting several systems beginning at 12:01 a.m. and ending at 8 a.m., Sunday, August 14 ET.

The following systems and systems that interface with these systems will be unavailable during the maintenance period:

  • Electronic Freedom of Information Act (eFOIA)
  • Electronic Filing System Web (EFS-Web & EFS-Web Contingency)
  • Office of Enrollment and Discipline Roster of Patent Attorneys/Agents (OEDCI)
  • Patent Review Processing System (PRPS)
  • Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (Private PAIR)
  • Publication Site for Issued and Published Sequences (PSIPS)
  • Revenue Accounting and Management System (RAM)
  • Financial Manager and Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
  • Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)
  • Trademark Electronic Application System International (TEASi)
  • Trademark Official Gazette (TMOG)
  • Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)

The maintenance will also cause interruptions to payment processing for users of the Electronic Trademark Assignment Search (ETAS), the Order Entry Management System (OEMS) and the Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA) and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board End to End (PTAB E2E).

For EFS-Web Customers:

During the maintenance period, applicants may file new patent applications, new international design applications and documents and fees for national stage entry under 35 U.S.C. 371 via Priority Mail Express® from the United States Postal Service (USPS) in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10. Applicants may file other documents or fee payments by:

  • First class mail with a certificate of mailing in accordance with 37 CFR 1.8, or
  • Priority Mail Express ® from UPS in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10.

Please note that filing of a new international (PCT) application or a new application under 35 USC 111(a), except reissue, design or plant applications, other than by the Office’s electronic filing system requires payment of the non-electronic filing fee (37 CFR 1.16(t) and 1.445(a)(1)(ii)) in addition to the other required fees. The non-electronic filing fee is $400 ($200 for small and micro entities). Also please note that an international design application filed in paper may be subject to additional  WIPO publication fees.

New patent applications, new international design applications, copies of the international (PCT) application and basic national fee necessary to enter the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371, and documents that are required to establish the filing date of an application (e.g., a missing drawing figure or page of the specification) cannot be submitted by facsimile transmission, and certificate of mailing procedures under 37 CFR 1.8 do not apply to these documents. Patent correspondence, including new patent applications, new international design applications, and documents or fee payments, cannot be submitted via email.

If you have any questions regarding alternative filing methods, please contact the USPTO Inventor’s Assistance Center during business hours (Mon.-Fri., 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. ET) at 1-800-786-9199. Information regarding filing by first class mail with a certificate of mailing or by Priority Mail Express can also be found in the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), Sections 512 and 513. Applicants are strongly advised to transmit their electronic filings prior to the outage period to ensure that the submissions are correctly completed.
If you have questions, please contact the EBC at 1-866-217-9197 or ebc@uspto.gov.

For TEAS Applicants:

Please be advised that when a filing deadline that falls on Saturday or Sunday, the filing may be made on Monday. Visit 37 C.F.R. §2.196 for more information. 
For additional information on filing during system outages, see the Trademark alternative filing methods webpage. If you have any questions regarding alternative filing methods for TEAS/TEASi, please contactTEAS@uspto.gov.

My USPTO Password Resets

The USPTO extended the MyUSPTO password retention policy.

If you created your uspto.gov account password before June 14, 2016, you will be asked to reset your password 60 days later. Once you reset your password, you will not be asked to again for 180 days.

Passwords created on or after June 14, 2016, will expire after 180 days.