USPTO Systems Status and Availability

PTAB-E2E, Patent Center, TEAS, TEASi, and Systems Maintenances

Patent Center Maintenance

The USPTO will perform maintenance impacting Patent Center beginning at 10 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., Friday, September 23 ET.

Patent Center will be unavailable during the maintenance period.

PTAB-E2E Maintenance Update 

TEAS and TEASi Maintenance

The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting the Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS) and Trademark Electronic Application System International (TEASi) beginning at 8 a.m. and ending at 4 p.m., Saturday, October 1 ET.

TEAS and TEASi will be unavailable during the maintenance period.

Because portable and e-signature forms allow 14 days for signature, it is important that you be aware of this scheduled outage so that you can plan ahead to avoid additional work. Users should file all recently created portable forms and e-signature forms by 7:59 a.m., Saturday, October 1, 2016 ET. Customers unable to do so will be required to start the process again with updated forms.  If you have any questions or concerns regarding the release, please contact TEAS@uspto.gov (link sends e-mail).

Systems Maintenance

The USPTO will perform systems maintenance beginning at 12:01 a.m. and ending at 3 p.m., Sunday, October 2 ET.

The following systems will be unavailable during the maintenance period:

• Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)
• Trademark Electronic Application System International (TEASi)
• Order Entry Management System (OEMS)
• Electronic Trademark Assignment Search (ETAS)
• Electronic System for Trademark Trials and Appeals (ESTTA)
• Patent Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web)
• Patent Trial and Appeal End to End (PTAB E2E)

For Patent Customers:

EFS-Web applicants may file new applications and follow-on submissions except for ePetitions, eTerminal Disclaimers, Web 85b, and processes which require payment at time of submission.

To submit payment, please use one of the alternative methods listed below:

• Attach a fee transmittal form (e.g., PTO/SB/17) with deposit account authorization in EFS-Web.
• Fax in a credit card authorization form PTO-2038 to the USPTO Central Fax 571-273-8300.
• Send 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.

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 Outage Page for information concerning Trademark alternative filing methods. Account holders 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 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, October 9 ET.

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

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.

Posted at 07:49AM Sep 23, 2016 in Planned Events  |