The staff in the Application Assistance Unit (AAU) provides assistance with a broad range of questions and issues pertaining to pre-examination processing of patent applications by the Office of Patent Application Processing (OPAP) and the post-examination processing of patent applications by the Office of Data Management (ODM).
Assistance is available Monday through Friday (except federal holidays) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.
These pages answer the questions we're asked most often:
- Status of an application that is in the pre-examination or the post-examination phase of processing
- Filing receipts
- Formality Notices (e.g. Missing Parts)
- Publication Notices
- Pre-examination and the post-examination abandonment notices
- Express abandonments
- Change of address
- Power of attorney
- Inventor Oath and Declaration
- Listing a patent for sale in the official gazette
- Notice of allowance
- Drawings
- Patent Cooperation Treaty
Additional information
Find more answers to common patent questions in the Patent FAQs.
For a complete directory of USPTO Patents contact centers and how to reach them, visit Patents Contact Centers page.