Patent Center

(last modified: APRIL2023)

Attention e-Office Action participants: As of April 12, 2023, the Office started sending a daily e-mail notifications to e-Office Action participants when a new Office communication is available in Patent Center. There is no need to re-enroll.

In order to ensure timely and consistent receipt of Patent Center e-Office Action notifications and alerts, please have your information technology team add the following list of parameters to your email program;

• Domain Name: USPTO.gov
• Sender address: noreply@uspto.gov
• Subject: USPTO: Patent Electronic System - Correspondence Notification for Customer Number

Participants enrolled in e-Office Action can search for new correspondence listed in the daily email by selecting Workbench/Correspondence then select the “e-notifications only” filter under Correspondence method dropdown.

After the transition, you will no longer receive an e-mail from PAIR_eOfficeAction@uspto.gov, but you will be able to view correspondences in Patent Center and Private PAIR.

An Official Notice was sent out and a Quick Start Guide is available on how to manage correspondence in Patent Center on the e-Office Action page.

Patents with an issue date on or after April 18, 2023 are issued as electronic patent grants (eGrants), which minimizes paper waste, potentially reduces patent pendency, and allows recipients to get their patent grant in PDF format on the day of issue.   

November 2022

• Update Application Entity Status
  • Users are now able to update the entity status of an application from the Application Data page.
• Docketed checkbox availability
  • Docketed checkbox is active and in sync with Private PAIR.

September 2022

• Petition for Revival of an Application based on Failure to Notify the Office of a Foreign or International Filing (37 CFR 1.137(a))
  • ePetition to Revive an Application based on Failure to Notify the Office of a Foreign or International Filing (37 CFR 1.137(a)) is now available in Patent Center.

 May 2022

• Petition to Correct Assignee After Payment of Issue Fee (37 CFR 3.81(b))
  • ePetition to Correct Assignee After Payment of Issue Fee (37 CFR 3.81(b)) is now available in Patent Center.
• Document descriptions for Non Patent Literature and Foreign Reference will now be automatically assigned
  • Document descriptions for Non Patent Literature and Foreign Reference will now be automatically assigned by using the following filename conventions for DOCX and PDF uploads:
    • Non Patent Literature: NPL_filename, filename_NPL, file_NPL_name or NPL-filename, filename-NPL, file-NPL-name
    •  Foreign Reference: FOR_filename, filename_FOR or FOR-filename, filename-FOR

February 2022

• Six-digit Registration Numbers for Limited Recognition Patent Practitioners

  On February 2, 2022, registration numbers for limited recognition patent practitioners (Design, Non-Immigrant Alien, and Law School) has been expanded to support six digits. For those practitioners, please use Patent Center to file and manage patent applications. Six-digit registration numbers will not be supported by EFS-Web.

  For questions or assistance, please contact the Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 during their operating hours of 6 a.m. to midnight ET, Monday - Friday, or emailebc@uspto.gov.

September 2021

• Third Party Preissuance Submissions under 37 CFR 1.290
  • Third Party Preissuance submissions under 37 CFR 1.290 are now available in Patent Center.

March 2021

• Attorney Docket number search
  • Attorney docket number search has been added to the Home and Search screens.
• Update application address
  • Request changes to the Correspondence Address and/or Maintenance Fee Address of up to 20 application(s) has been implemented in Patent Center. Requests must be submitted by the Attorney or Agent of record who has been given power of attorney in the application. Practitioner Support users can assemble the request and notify the Practitioner when the request is ready to be submitted.

• Single letter s-signature
  • Users are now able to sign using single letter s-signatures in Patent Center.
• Drawings can now be filed in docx

  • DOCX submissions may include the Drawings section. You may upload your Drawings as a single section or you may include the Drawings in a multi-section (a single file which includes specification, claims, abstract, and/or drawings).  Be sure to include the Drawings after the Abstract section and use the appropriate heading, such as “Drawings” or “Figures”.

(last modified: April2023)

Prior Art Submissions into a Patent File under 37 CFR 1.501; Pre-Grant Publication under 37 CFR 1.211 to 1.221;   Petition for Revival of an Application based on Failure to Notify the Office of a Foreign or International Filing (37 CFR 1.137(f)).

• These application types are still in development at this time and will be available in an upcoming release
• Please continue to use EFS-Web to file these applications and submissions

(Last modified: May2023)

ePetition to Make Special Based On Age

• Entered signatures are not retained
• Users can file the file the PTO/SB/130 form or use EFS Web.
• This will be fixed in June

Uploading large or complex DOCX files

• Currently, there is a 10MB file size limit for DOCX documents in Patent Center.  If your multi-section DOCX is larger than 10MB, please split the multi-section document into single documents for uploading.  If your single section DOCX document is larger than 10MB, you may have to submit it as a PDF. There is a 25MB size limit on PDFs.  Also, larger files with large amounts of drawings and pages may take longer to upload.  If your document upload times out, we also recommend splitting the file into single sections (whether DOCX or PDF documents).  Please note we are investigating options that will allow us to receive larger files and are working on improving on our error messages for large files.

Images in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format

• Images in SVG format (including equations/formulas embedded as SVG images) are not supported in multi-section DOCX documents.  To resolve this issue you may convert your images to a non-vector graphics format (e.g. jpeg, bitmap, png, tiff)  or you may submit your document as a single section DOCX document. For equations/formulas you may also use a supported equation editor

Web 85B

• Entered fee addresses are not being retained for user review
• Correctly entered deposit account numbers are returning an error
• As a workaround use form PTOL-85 Part B or EFS-Web
• This will be resolved in June

PDF Auto detection as NPL or Foreign Reference

• The auto detection of PDF documents as NPL or Foreign references is not working correctly. Users can still index PDF documents with the document code or alternatively, if possible, file the document as a DOCX using one of the file naming conventions that will auto assign the document code to the DOCX document.
• This will be fixed in June

Web ADS - Domestic Benefit

• The application number entry field for domestic benefit is inactive. As an alternative users can upload a PTO AIA/14 fillable ADS or choose the "No ADS, or Attach ADS (PDF)" in Patent Center.
• This will be fixed in May

Saved Entity Status Updates

• Saved entity status updates by support users currently cannot be signed and submitted by the supporting practitioners.
• As a workaround, directly submitting entity status updates by the practitioner or using Private PAIR
• This will be resolved by the end of April.

New PCT filings

• New PCT filings does not show fee code 1710 when uploading the appropriate zip file. 
• As a workaround users may utilize alternative methods of payment such as deposit account authorization or credit card payment or sure EFS-Web to upload your PCT filings with a zip file.
• This will be resolved in June

eTerminal disclaimer character limit

• Currently the signature field is only allowing users to input a signature up to 15 characters.
• If your signature contains more than 15 characters please use efs to file your eterminal disclaimer.
• This will resolved in May

Users unable to download documents for PCT Applications in Documents & Transactions

• As a workaround use Private PAIR to download documents for PCT applications
• This will be resolved in April

In Workbench/correspondence the PDF/DOCX/XML download options are not displayed when the Select All checkbox is selected

• As a workaround unselect 1 of the selected documents to display the download options
• This will be resolved in April

Unable to download the file wrapper of some applications within Documents & Transactions

• Users will experience either a 500 error or the system displays the download indicator then the indication stops without the document(s) downloaded
• As a workaround perform the download in Private PAIR
• This will be resolved in April

Some users are unable to log into Patent Center after entering the 2 factor code

• User who are not registered will experience the browser reloading the Patent Center page and the URL displays https://patentcenter.uspto.gov/?auth=true
• The problem will be resolved in the 3rd quarter
• Unregistered users can submit the Patent Electronic Systems form if they are a registered practitioner or independent inventor

If the default sort order is changed in Documents & Transactions the custom sort is not maintained in the downloaded PDF

• This will be fixed in April

Inventor and Applicant middle name and suffix are not displayed

• This will be fixed in the 3rd quarter

The text "NULL" is displayed in the name and or address of the customer number

• This is a display error and is not representative of the official customer number name or address
• This will fixed in the 3rd quarter

Some applications may not display all assignees when reviewing Assignment information

• Please use Private PAIR or the Assignment Search page for multi Assignee searches
• We are aware of the issue and it will be fixed in a later release

Ad-blocking software

• Some ad-blocking software may erroneously block parts of Patent Center. Although there are no ads in Patent Center, please whitelist uspto.gov in your ad-blocking software or disable it for best results.

(last modified: April2023)

 

RESOLVED: Workbench/correspondence page index display error

• The page index at the bottom of the Workbench/correspondence page now correctly displays "Page 1 of..." instead of "Page 2 of ...".

RESOLVED: Unable to copy Inventor or Applicant screen text form the Application data page

RESOLVED: Preview PDF issue

The preview function is using a browser plugin to display the PDF and is not working as expected. However, if you select the 3 dots and then select to download the PDF, all of the drawing contents are displayed

RESOLVED: Firefox browser issue when trying to log in

• If you are having trouble accessing Patent Center with the Firefox browser as a logged in user, please try logging in using either Chrome or Edge. 

RESOLVED: Document Indexing

• In order to correct a document description, users will have to remove the uploaded document then re-upload and select the proper document description.

RESOLVED: XML download from Workbench/Correspondence

• In Workbench/Correspondence, the XML download is not working.  The XML file can be downloaded from Private PAIR, View Outgoing Correspondence search.  

RESOLVED: ADVISORY 11-OCT-22: New non-provisional applications

• Applications submitted on October 10, 2022 via Patent Center are experiencing longer than expected delays in becoming available in Patent Center and Private PAIR. 

(last modified: MARCH2023)

RESOLVED: Equations in DOCX filings

• For equations in DOCX filings, it is recommended you exclusively use the Cambria Math font instead of other font types to preserve the PDF content of the equation accurately.

RESOLVED: Petition to revive an application for continuity purposes only under 37 CFR 1.137(a)

• The ePetition for Revival of an Application for Continuity Purposes Only under 37 CFR 1.137(a) is temporarily unavailable in Patent Center.

RESOLVED: Amendments or Responses to Office Actions in DOCX

• Please refrain from submitting Amendments or Responses to Office Actions in DOCX format. Full functionality to support this feature is not yet available.

RESOLVED: eOA Postcard notifications are being sent for correspondence downloaded through Patent Center

• Users are reporting that the courtesy postcards are still being sent when the outgoing correspondence is viewed/downloaded in Patent Center within the 7-day period.
• We are aware of the issue and it will be fixed in the next release

RESOLVED: Docketed column is temporarily unavailable in Patent Center

• We are aware of the issue and it will be fixed in a later release

RESOLVED: The Corrected Web ADS is temporarily unavailable in Patent Center.

• Please use a customized ADS form instead
• Please include all inventors on the customized ADS form.

RESOLVED: Managing sponsorship information is temporarily unavailable for Practitioner Support users

• Additionally, managing customer number details and filtering applications/correspondence under Workbench by customer number is also unavailable.  
• We are aware of the issue and it will be fixed in the next release

RESOLVED: Limited continuity data displayed

• Due to USPTO system changes, enhancements made to Patent Center continuity data have been limited. Currently both Patent Center and Private PAIR are displaying a more restrictive continuity data.
• We are working to restore enhanced continuity data at the end of May.

RESOLVED: Some ePetitions are temporarily unavailable in Patent Center

• The following petitions are temporarily unavailable:
  • Petition for Revival of an Abandoned Patent Application Abandoned Unintentionally (37 CFR 1.137(a)) (For Cases Abandoned After 1st Action and Prior to Notice of Allowance)
  • Petition to Accept Late Payment of Issue Fee - Unintentional Late Payment (37 CFR 1.137(a))

RESOLVED: Size Limit for Sequence Listing Files

• 50MB is the size limit for sequence listing text files submitted via Patent Center.
• For sequence listing that exceed 100MB, refer to 37 CFR 1.52(e) for information.

RESOLVED: Supplemental Examination follow ons

• Some document descriptions are not present in Patent Center for follow on Supplemental Examination filings. 

RESOLVED: Petition based on Age grant letter does not display in Firefox

• Please use the Chrome or Edge browser to file the Petition based on Age.
• If you use Firefox, the grant letter is not displayed on the receipt page as expected. You will receive a pop-up dialog to open or save the pdf document containing the submission receipt/grant letter document. You can also select "Save as" to download the receipt document on the receipt page.

RESOLVED: Petition to revive an application for continuity purposes only under 37 CFR 1.137(a)

• The ePetition for Revival of an Application for Continuity Purposes Only under 37 CFR 1.137(a) appears on the Petitions drop down menu as an available petition type, however this ePetition is still in development at this time..

RESOLVED: Some users are receiving an error to remove all documents when uploading documents in Patent Center

• Please be sure not to file the same application section twice. Specification, Claims and Abstract should only be upload once per submission.

RESOLVED: AIA/14 upload option in Patent Center is temporarily unavailable

• Please use the Web ADS or No ADS options available in Patent Center.

RESOLVED: Supplemental Examination temporarily unavailable

• Supplemental Examination in Patent Center is temporarily unavailable.
• Please use EFS-Web to file Supplemental Examinations.

RESOLVED: eTerminal disclaimer temporarily unavailable

• The eterminal disclaimer in Patent Center is temporarily unavailable.
• Please use EFS-Web to file eTerminal disclaimers.

RESOLVED: Patent Center does not acknowledge user log in

• Some users may experience issues accessing Patent Center after logging into MyUSPTO, https://my.uspto.gov/home. 
• We suggest users first clear browser cache then authenticate into Patent Center directly using the “Find It Fast” Patent Center link located on the USPTO.gov home page.

RESOLVED: Sponsorship Tool does not recognize customer numbers associated to profile

• Please use the Sponsor users option under Manage to add/remove sponsorships
• We are aware of the issue and it will be fixed in the next release

RESOLVED: PCT "filing on behalf of"

• Practitioner support now have the option to select the attorney they are filing on behalf of in PCT applications

RESOLVED: ePetitions now available in Patent Center

• The following ePetitions are now available
  • Request for Withdrawal as Attorney or Agent of Record (37 CFR 1.36)
  • Petition to withdraw from Issue after Payment of the Issue Fee (37 CFR 1.313(c)(1) or (2)) and (37 CFR 1.313(c)(3))
  • Petition to withdraw from Issue after Payment of the Issue Fee (37 CFR 1.313(c)(1) or (2)) and (37 CFR 1.313(c)(3) with assigned patent number)

RESOLVED: New Practitioner Support account (DECEMBER2020)

• New Practitioner Support users are currently unable to access Patent Center and other eCommerce systems until the next business day from when the account is created. Practitioner Support users who have current sponsorships will not be affected. If the user is unable to access Patent Center the next business day, please contact the EBC at 866-217-9197 or by email at EBC@uspto.gov. 

  •  RESOLVED: Direct sponsorship by an attorney is fixed, however sponsorship requests on behalf of an attorney still have a waiting period.  Please contact the EBC if you are unable to sign in by the next day.

RESOLVED: Customer Number (NOVEMBER2020)

• Users are unable to save a new customer number request due to duplicate registration numbers listed. In order to save the request, select the check box to the right of the registration number for the duplicate registration number and click Remove. Once the duplicate registration number is removed, the request can be saved.

RESOLVED: DOCX APP.TEXT (NOVEMBER2020)

RESOLVED: Receipt history (OCTOBER 2020)

• The Providing quick access to your last 40 submission receipts.

RESOLVED: Attorney docket number not displaying on fee payment page (OCTOBER 2020)

• Displaying the attorney document number on the fee payment page

RESOLVED:  Missing Patent offices on ADS foreign priority dropdown (OCTOBER 2020)

• Displaying the attorney document number on the fee payment page

RESOLVED:  Missing Patent offices on ADS foreign priority dropdown (OCTOBER 2020)

• Correcting the Patent office’s missing from the ADS foreign priority drop down list

RESOLVED: Conversion problem with multi-part PDF documents created using Ricoh MP 6503 (OCTOBER 2020)

• Documents in the file wrapper appear truncated and rotated incorrectly
• Affected PDF documents: using the document split feature on a multi-part PDF document created with the Ricoh MP 65303 PDF producer (printer/scanner)

RESOLVED: A4 Page Size Warning for PDF documents (SEPTEMBER 2020)

• An incorrect page size warning is displayed for PDF documents with A4 page size: “The page size in the PDF is too large. The pages should be 8.5 x 11 or A4. If this PDF is submitted, the pages will be resized.”

RESOLVED: Training Mode Unavailable (SEPTEMBER 2020)

• Training Mode in Patent Center is currently now working properly.

RESOLVED: ePetition to Accept Delay Payment of Issue Fee (SEPTEMBER 2020)

• This ePetition is still in development at this time

RESOLVED: Corrected Web ADS (SEPTEMBER 2020)

• The Corrected Web ADS Inventors section is not working properly.

RESOLVED: ePetition based on Age (JULY 2020)

• A menu item for ePetition based on Age appears on the top drop down menu and as a submission type on the ePetitions filing types, however this ePetition is still in development at this time.

RESOLVED: Web-based Issue Fee (Web 85B) (JULY 2020)

• Updating the correspondence and maintenance fee address using the web-85b is currently not available.

RESOLVED: Saved Submissions missing Date Saved and Date Created (JULY 2020)

• In-progress submissions that you save do not list the date saved and date created.

RESOLVED: Web ADS unsupported characters (JULY 2020)

• When entering application numbers on the Web ADS - foreign priority section, slashes and periods characters are not accepted. A PDF of the Web ADS is not generated.

RESOLVED: Payment Receipt Print and Save-as buttons are not working (JULY 2020)

• The payment receipt Print and Save as buttons are non-responsive.

RESOLVED: Reel Frame Numbers (MAY 2020)

• Reel frame numbers shown incorrectly