USPTO Systems Status and Availability

Friday Oct 27, 2017

Multiple Planned Maintenances

MyUSPTO.gov and Fee Processing Maintenance

The USPTO will perform systems maintenance beginning at 10 p.m., Saturday, October 28 and ending at 5:30 a.m., Sunday, October 29 ET.

The my.uspto.gov website will be unavailable during the maintenance period.

The maintenance will cause an outage to Financial Manager, an outage to Patent Maintenance Fee Storefront, and interruption to payment processing for all USPTO storefronts. Users of the following systems should not attempt to make a payment during the maintenance period:

  • Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web & EFS-Web Contingency)
  • Patent Maintenance Fee Storefront
  • Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)
  • Trademark Electronic Application System International (TEASi)

For Patent Customers:

For more information about filing documents during an outage, please visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/filing-online/filing-documents-during-outage.

If you have questions, please contact the EBC (Patent Electronic Business Center) at 1-866-217-9197, Monday through Friday from 6 a.m. - Midnight ET, or email ebc@uspto.gov.

For PTAB Customers:

If your deadline is today for the petition filing and/or other associated documents to a pending AIA case and you cannot file electronically via the Patent Trial and Appeal Board End-to-End System (PTAB-E2E), you may use an alternative filing method. Please visit the PTAB-E2E FAQ page (https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-trial-and-appeal-board/ptab-e2e-frequently-asked-questions) and see A2 for information concerning your AIA petition filing and/or document filing using PTAB-E2E alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact PTAB during normal business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET by telephone at 571-272-7822 or email at Trials@uspto.gov .

For Trademark 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 Trademark Outage Page for information concerning Trademark alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact the TEAS Team by email TEAS@uspto.gov.

For TTAB Customers:

If your deadline is today and the document cannot be filed electronically, you must use an alternative method of filing. Please visit the TTAB Outage Page for information concerning Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact the TTAB Assistance Center during normal business hours by telephone at 571-272-8500 or email TTABInfo@uspto.gov .

Systems Maintenance

The USPTO will perform systems maintenance beginning at 10 p.m., Saturday, October 28 and ending at 4 a.m., Sunday, October 29 ET.

The maintenance may cause momentary outages during the maintenance window to the following systems:

  • EFS-Web and EFS-Web Contingency
  • Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA)

Alternative filing instructions and payment options are provided below in the event of an unanticipated outage.

For Patent Customers:

For more information about filing documents during an outage, please visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/filing-online/filing-documents-during-outage.

If you have questions, please contact the EBC (Patent Electronic Business Center) at 1-866-217-9197, Monday through Friday from 6AM - Midnight ET, or email ebc@uspto.gov.

For PTAB Customers:

If your deadline is today for the petition filing and/or other associated documents to a pending AIA case and you cannot file electronically via the Patent Trial and Appeal Board End-to-End System (PTAB-E2E), you may use an alternative filing method. Please visit the PTAB-E2E FAQ page https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-trial-and-appeal-board/ptab-e2e-frequently-asked-questions and see A2 for information concerning your AIA petition filing and/or document filing using PTAB-E2E alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact PTAB during normal business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET by telephone at 571-272-7822 or email at Trials@uspto.gov.

For Trademark 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 Trademark Outage Page for information concerning Trademark alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact the TEAS Team by email TEAS@uspto.gov.

For TTAB Customers:

If your deadline is today and the document cannot be filed electronically, you must use an alternative method of filing. Please visit the TTAB Outage Page for information concerning Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact the TTAB Assistance Center during normal business hours by telephone at 571-272-8500 or email TTABInfo@uspto.gov.

Credit/Debit Card Maintenance

The third-party card processing provider for USPTO payment system, Pay.gov, is performing maintenance beginning at 6 p.m., Saturday, October 28 and ending at 11:59 p.m., Saturday, October 28 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 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 PTAB Customers:

PTAB-E2E will be available for use (uploading and downloading files and searching) but a petitioner will not be able to pay for their newly created petitions when the Financial Manager payment system is unavailable. Please pay for your newly filed petitions when Financial Manager is available. If your deadline is today for the petition filing and/or other associated documents to a pending AIA case and you cannot file electronically via the Patent Trial and Appeal Board End-to-End System (PTAB-E2E), you may use an alternative filing method. Please visit the PTAB-E2E FAQ page (https://www.uspto.gov/patents-application-process/patent-trial-and-appeal-board/ptab-e2e-frequently-asked-questions) and see A2 for information concerning your AIA petition filing and/or document filing using PTAB-E2E alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact PTAB during normal business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET by telephone at 571-272-7822 or email at Trials@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.

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 the document cannot be filed electronically, you must use an alternative method of filing. Please visit the TTAB Outage Page for information concerning Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) alternative filing methods. If you have any questions, contact the TTAB Assistance Center during normal business hours by telephone at 571-272-8500 or email TTABInfo@uspto.gov.