USPTO Systems Status and Availability

The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting several systems beginning at 12:01 a.m. and ending at 8 a.m., Sunday, August 14 ET.

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

• Electronic Freedom of Information Act (eFOIA)
• Electronic Filing System Web (EFS-Web & EFS-Web Contingency)
• Office of Enrollment and Discipline Roster of Patent Attorneys/Agents (OEDCI)
• Patent Review Processing System (PRPS)
• Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (Private PAIR)
• Publication Site for Issued and Published Sequences (PSIPS)
• Revenue Accounting and Management System (RAM)
• Financial Manager and Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront
• Trademark Electronic Application System (TEAS)
• Trademark Electronic Application System International (TEASi)
• Trademark Official Gazette (TMOG)
• Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)

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.