1309 Issue of Patent [R-07.2022]
Under the current publication process, electronic capture of most of the information to be printed in a patent will begin as soon as an electronic message concerning the allowed application is received in the Office of Data Management, immediately after the Notice of Allowance has been mailed. The application is then electronically exported to Initial Data Capture (IDC) for electronic capture of the patent filed. This process takes approximately 6 weeks. Upon IDC completion, an electronic message is then sent to the File Maintenance Facility to ensure that all post allowance correspondence, fees and drawings have been updated. The application may stay in FMF for 1-2 weeks or until all post-allowance requirements are met.
When the issue fee is paid and all other requirements have been met (e.g., drawings) for issuance as a patent, the application is then electronically exported to the Final Data Capture (FDC) stage. The FDC makes any updates necessary to the electronic file and places the allowed patent application in an issue. The average time that an allowed application is in the FDC process is 5 weeks (2 weeks of processing time for assignment of issue date). The "Issue Notification" is mailed approximately 3 weeks prior to the issue date of the patent.
A bond paper copy of the patent grant is sealed and mailed by the Office of Data Management.
All allowed applications ready for printing will be selected by chronological sequence based on the date the issue fee was paid. Special handling will be given to the following applications in these categories:
- (A) Allowed cases which were made special by the Director.
- (B) Allowed cases that have a U.S. effective filing date more than 5 years old.
- (C) Allowed reissue applications.
- (D) Allowed applications having an effective filing date earlier than that required for declaring an interference with a copending application claiming the same subject matter.
- (E) Allowed application of a party involved in a terminated interference.
35 U.S.C. 2 Powers and duties.
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- (b) SPECIFIC POWERS.— The Office—
- (1) shall adopt and use a seal of the Office, which shall be judicially noticed and with which letters patent, certificates of trademark registrations, and papers issued by the Office shall be authenticated;
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35 U.S.C. 153 How issued.
Patents shall be issued in the name of the United States of America, under the seal of the Patent and Trademark Office, and shall be signed by the Director or have his signature placed thereon and shall be recorded in the Patent and Trademark Office.
The Fee(s) Transmittal form (PTOL-85B) provides a space (item 2) for the person submitting the base issue fee to indicate, for printing, (1) the names of up to three registered patent attorneys or agents or, alternatively, (2) the name of a single firm, which has as a member at least one registered patent attorney or agent, and the names of up to two registered patent attorneys or agents. If the person submitting the issue fee desires that no name of practitioner or firm be printed on the patent, the space on the Fee(s) Transmittal form should be left blank. If no name is listed on the form, no name will be printed on the patent.
II. ASSIGNMENT PRINTED ON PATENTThe Fee(s) Transmittal form (PTOL -85B) provides a space (item 3) for assignment data which should be completed in order to comply with 37 CFR 3.81. The Office does not look to the assignment record to determine the name of the assignee to be printed on the front of the patent. Therefore, unless an assignee’s name and address are identified in item 3 of the Fee(s) Transmittal form PTOL-85B, the patent will issue to the applicant. Assignment data printed on the patent will be based solely on the information so supplied. See MPEP § 307. Recording of the assignment, or submission of the assignment for recordation as set forth in 37 CFR 3.11 is required for a Patent to issue to an assignee. See 37 CFR 3.81(a).
III. ASSIGNEE NAMESOnly the first appearing name of an assignee will be printed on the patent where multiple names for the same party are identified on the Fee(s) Transmittal form, PTOL-85B. Such multiple names may occur when both a legal name and an “also known as” or “doing business as” name is also included. This printing practice will not, however, affect the practice of recording assignments with the Office in the Assignment Division. The assignee entry on form PTOL-85B should still be completed to indicate the assignment data as recorded in the Office. For example, the assignment filed in the Office and therefore the PTOL-85B assignee entry might read “Smith Company doing business as (d.b.a.) Jones Company.” The assignee entry on the printed patent will read “Smith Company.” Providing assignee information on the form PTOL-85B will result in identification of the assignee in the assignee field of the issued patent, but will not affect any change in the applicant of record. If the assignee is not the applicant of record, then an appropriate request under 37 CFR 1.46(c) must be filed before or with the payment of the issue fee for the patent to reflect the assignee as both the applicant and the assignee.
1309.01 [Reserved]
1309.02 “Printer Rush” Cases [R-07.2022]
A printer rush occurs when document(s) need to be addressed after a patent application has been allowed. The file is returned to the examiner, a "Printer Rush" form is included in the Image File Wrapper (IFW) and is indicated with a "RUSH" document code, noting the issue. Issues which may prevent publication until they are resolved include but are not limited to: amendments under 37 CFR 1.312, a Request for Correction of Inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48 and Information Disclosure Statements which have not been initialed by the examiner.
These applications are placed on the examiner's "expedited" tab in Docket Application Viewer (DAV) and should be taken up for immediate action. The examiner annotates the "RUSH" document in Adobe to indicate the course of action taken to correct the issue or an indication as to why the application is considered to be correct as it stands. If correction requires the mailing of an Office Action, such as an examiner's amendment, Corrected Notice of Allowance, or a Response to Rule 312 Communication (form PTO-271) the annotated "RUSH" document is included in the eRedFolder (ERF) of the Office Action. A Corrected Notice of Allowance is used when correction of the issue requires the mailing of any document to the applicant besides a Response to Rule 312 Communication or those related to a Quick Path IDS. If correction does not require mailing of an Office Action, the examiner creates an action entitled "Printer Rush - No mailing" and imports the "RUSH" document along with any other required forms into the action. The annotated "RUSH" form is scanned into the IFW and will not be mailed to the applicant in either circumstance.