Application Assistance Unit

The staff in the Application Assistance Unit (AAU) is trained to assist 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).  

Contact us if you have questions regarding the America Invents Act, including legal provisions and rules in effect as of September 16, 2012 or issues as they pertain to the pre-examination and the post-examination processing of patent applications.  
 

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If you have already contacted the AAU, we want to hear from you. Were you satisfied by the assistance provided by our staff? Please let us know what we can do to improve.

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We can assist with questions about:

• Status of an application that is in the pre-examination or the post-examination phase of processing
• Filing receipts
• Missing parts letters
• Pre-examination and the post-examination abandonment notices
• Express abandonments
• Change/withdrawal of attorney; change of address
• Power of attorney
• Inventor Oath and Declaration

We can also assist with:

• Listing a patent for sale in the official gazette
• Lost or damaged patent grants or soft copies
• Processing of Certificates of Corrections 

Assistance is available Monday through Friday (except federal holidays) from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

2020 federal holidays