The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is increasing the availability of its patent electronic filing system, Electronic Filing System - Web (EFS-Web) by providing a new contingency option when the primary portal for EFS-Web is unavailable. Similar to the EFS-Web Unregistered site, EFS-Web Contingency offers the same user interface and equivalent functionality by permitting users to file new applications, requests for reexamination and certain petitions.
Note: Impacts on EFS-Web Contingency by other USPTO systems and availability
Please see the USPTO Systems Status and Availability page for current system status and impacted features.
If systems that EFS-Web Contingency depend on are unavailable, submission types and features in EFS-Web Contingency may be unavailable. Two examples are payment processing and data processing. If the USPTO payment system is unavailable, then online payment processing will be unavailable for EFS-Web Contingency (e.g., online payment option is not available for payment of the basic national fee with a national stage submission under 35 U.S.C. 371). If the Patent Application Locating and Monitoring (PALM) system is unavailable, then EFS-Web Contingency cannot access data for processing certain submission types. The availability of the PALM system may affect:
- National stage submissions under 35 U.S.C. 371
- ePetition to Accept Unintentional Delayed Payment of the Maintenance Fee (37 CFR 1.378(b))
- ePetition to Make special based on age (37 CFR 1.102)
- Application Information Retrieval from a parent application for Web ADS
- Third-Party Preissuance Submission under 37 CFR 1.290
- Prior Art Submission into a Patent File under 37 CFR 1.501.
Benefits of the EFS-Web Contingency system include:
- Increased overall system availability for electronic filing, with EFS-Web availability supplemented by EFS-Web Contingency
- Identical user interface and equivalent functionality as Unregistered EFS-Web
- Exactly the same back-end processing of submitted applications as Unregistered EFS-Web
- Users will continue to promptly receive an electronic acknowledgement receipt of their EFS-Web Contingency submission and have the ability to review their applications or documents via the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system
Note: Follow-on submissions not permitted in EFS-Web Contingency
Filing follow-on documents and follow-on fee payments to an existing patent application is not permitted via EFS-Web Contingency; please use alternative filing method. When an applicant improperly files a follow-on document as a new application via EFS-Web Contingency (or EFS-Web) and requests the USPTO to move the follow-on document to the intended application, a petition under 37 CFR 1.182 accompanied by the petition fee will be required in the intended application.
To file follow-on documents to an existing application or request, please use alternative filing method.
Note: Saved Submissions not available in EFS-Web Contingency
Registered e-filers who have uploaded documents to a Saved Submission package in EFS-Web will not be able to retrieve those Saved Submission documents in EFS-Web Contingency.
To file a new patent application using EFS-Web Contingency, click the link below:
>> Launch EFS-Web Contingency
Additional Information:
EFS-Web Contingency Support:
For specific questions about how to use Patent electronic systems to submit or review patent applications and patent documents, please call the Patent Electronic Business Center at 866-217-9197 (toll free) or e-mail EBC@uspto.gov .