Advisory (16DEC2014): “In view of public feedback, the USPTO has enhanced the dedicated EFS-Web interface for third-party preissuance submissions. The enhancements include:
1.) The text box length for the Concise Description of Relevance has been expanded from 250 to 1000 characters, which may eliminate the need to upload a separate PDF document for the concise description of relevance.
2.) A new fee radio button for resubmissions has been added. The new radio button permits a third party to request that the USPTO apply the fee that accompanied an earlier filed non-compliant submission to the resubmission, or to again state that the fee exemption set forth in 37 CFR 1.290(g) applies to the resubmission.
3.) A third party now has the option to request email notification regarding whether the submission was found compliant or non-compliant.
See the EFS –Web Quick Start Guide for Third-Party Preissuance Submissions for more information.”
Advisory (09DEC2014): New Maximum Daily Limit for Credit Cards – Effective June 1, 2015
The maximum daily limit per credit card account is currently $49,999.99. Effective June 1, 2015, the daily limit per credit card account will be lowered to $24,999.99. Debit cards will continue to have no daily limit.
All credit card and debit card payments are processed through the Department of the Treasury’s Pay.gov (link is external) system. The new daily limit for credit cards will automatically be enforced through the Pay.gov (link is external) system. If cardholders exceed the daily limit, a message will indicate that the maximum daily limit has been reached and the payment will be rejected.
Existing alternatives for submitting large dollar payments are deposit account, electronic funds transfer (EFT) over the USPTO website, and wire transfer through the Federal Reserve Fedwire System.
Advisory (29SEPT2014): Applicants requesting participation in the Global/IP5 Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) pilot program are advised to use the PTO/SB/20GLBL form to ensure timely processing.
Advisory (SEPT2014): The After Final Consideration Pilot (AFCP) 2.0 and the Quick Path IDS (QPIDS) pilot have been extended through September 30th, 2015. Please visit the Patent Application Initiatives webpage for further information about these pilots. Check out the new features of AFCP 2.0 as well as learn about additional options for compact prosecution and increased collaboration between examiners and stakeholders.
Advisory (04AUG2014): The instructions for Private PAIR Publication Review Data Changes have been revised. Submitted requests that comply with the instructions will be entered into IFW and will be processed by the appropriate division. For detailed instructions, please visit http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/status/private_pair/pub_review_instructions.jsp .
Advisory (28MAY2014): Parties in court proceedings filed against the Office have, at times, improperly served the Office with district court complaints or notices of appeal to the Federal Circuit, or have improperly filed notices of election, by electronically submitting the document directly into the file of an application, patent, or Office proceeding via EFS-Web. Such documents may NOT be filed and/or served on the Office via EFS-Web for the purposes of any court proceeding conducted against the Office. See MPEP 1216 for instructions on how to properly serve, and/or properly file, such documents. For additional information, please contact the Solicitor's Office at 571-272-9035.
The Office will, however, accept the electronic submission via EFS-Web of copies of documents that have already been filed in court (and, in the case of a court proceeding being conducted against the Office, that have already been properly filed and/or properly served on the Office) in the file of an application, patent, or Office proceeding, if the submission is in accordance with all applicable rules and Office procedures. For example, a copy of such a document may be filed as an exhibit or attachment in conjunction with a notice of concurrent proceedings, a petition, or a declaration under 37 CFR 1.132; as part of an information disclosure statement; or as an item of information in a supplemental examination proceeding.