Petitions for correction of patent application publications under 37 CFR 1.221 (b)

Deciding Office:  Office of Petitions

The criteria for petitions for correction of patent application publications under 37 CFR 1.221 (b) are set forth in 37 CFR 1.221(b) and MPEP § 1130.

In general, these are the steps for filing petitions for correction of patent application publications under 37 CFR 1.221(b):

  • Submit a signed request that includes information listed in Requirements of a petition within two (2) months of the date of the patent application publication that identifies the Office's material mistake. The two month period is not extendable.

A material mistake is an error that affects the public's ability to appreciate the technical disclosure of the patent application publication, to determine the scope of the patent application publication, or to determine the scope of the provisional rights that an applicant may seek to enforce upon issuance of a patent.

Examples of a material mistake usually include:

  • an error in the published claims,
  • the (effective) filing date of the application, or
  • a serious error in the written description or drawings that is necessary to support the claims.

Examples of a non-material mistake, for which the request will not be granted, include:

  • missing or incorrect assignment information, or the title and
  • typographical errors in the publication that do not affect the interpretation of the published claims

Fees:

No petition fee required for petitions for correction of patent application publications under 37 CFR 1.221(b)

How to file:

This petition may be filed using any of these delivery methods.

Please Note:

  • If the two month period has expired or the mistake is nonmaterial, applicants may correct the mistakes by filing a request for republication under 37 CFR 1.221(a), and should not file a request for corrected publication under 37 CFR 1.221 (b). Requests for republication under 37 CFR 1.221 (a) are filed entirely online and must be submitted via the EFS System as a "Pre-Grant Publication."  Guidance for filing a request under 37 CFR 1.221 (a) can be found in the EFS-Web Filing Documents for Pre-Grant Publication Quick Start Guide [PDF].

For the relevant patent laws and rules applicable to petitions for correction of patent application publications under 37 CFR 1.221(b), please see:

  • 37 CFR 1.221(b), Voluntary publication or republication of patent application publication; and
  • MPEP § 1130, Republication and correction of patent application publications.

Forms:

No form available. Submit a signed request that includes information listed in Requirements of a petition.

For further assistance, please contact the Petitions Help Desk between 8:30 AM - 5 PM (EDT).

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The Federal Register is the authoritative source and should be consulted if a need arises to verify the authenticity of the language for any CFR citation.