		       Assignment of Confirmation Number
				      and
		     Time Period for Filing a Copy of an 
	  Application by EFS for Eighteen-Month Publication Purposes

   The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office) recently 
published a final rule to implement the eighteen-month publication 
provisions of the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999. See Changes 
to Implement Eighteen-Month Publication of Patent Applications, 65 Fed. 
Reg. 57023 (Sept. 20, 2000), 1239 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 63 (Oct. 10, 2000) 
(Notice of Final Rulemaking). The purpose of this notice is to advise 
applicants that an electronic filing system (EFS) copy of an application 
will be used in creating the patent application publication even if it is 
submitted outside the period set forth in 37 CFR 1.215(c), provided that it 
is submitted within one month of the mailing date of the first Filing 
Receipt including a confirmation number for the application.

   37 CFR 1.215 provides that the Office will use the EFS copy of an 
application submitted by  applicant to create the patent application 
publication if applicant supplies the EFS copy within one month of the 
actual filing date of the application or fourteen months of the earliest 
filing date for which a benefit is sought, whichever is later.  See 37 CFR 
1.215(c). 37 CFR 1.215 also provides that if the Office has not started the 
publication process, the Office may use an untimely filed EFS copy of an 
application supplied by the applicant to create the patent application 
publication.  See 37 CFR 1.215(d).

   The Office plans to issue a four-digit confirmation number for each 
currently pending and newly filed application.  This confirmation number, 
in combination with the application number, will be used to verify the 
accuracy of the application number and avoid misidentification of an 
application due to a transposition error in the application number. The 
Office will assign a confirmation number to each pending application and 
notify the applicant of the confirmation number by a separate notice for 
each pending application.  This process of assigning confirmation numbers 
in pending applications will begin in early December and is expected to be 
completed by December 15, 2000. The Office will also assign a confirmation 
number to each new application and notify the applicant of the confirmation 
number on the Filing Receipt. The confirmation number will also be 
available through the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) 
system (http://pair.uspto.gov). The Office eventually plans to include the 
application's confirmation number (in addition to the application number) 
on all Office actions and notices concerning the application.

   This confirmation number must be used when submitting an EFS copy of the 
application for publication to verify that the application number correctly 
identifies the application for which a copy is being submitted for 
publication. See Changes to Implement Eighteen-Month Publication of Patent 
Applications, 65 Fed. Reg. at 57041, 1239 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office at 78-79 
(response to comment 20).  The Office also recommends that applicants 
include the application's confirmation number (in addition to the 
application number) on all correspondence submitted to the Office 
concerning the application.

   Since the Office requires the use of the confirmation number when 
submitting an EFS copy of the application for publication, the Office will 
use the EFS copy of the application submitted by applicant, rather than 
application papers as recorded in the Offices Patent Application Capture 
and Review (PACR) database, to create the patent application publication, 
provided that the applicant supplies the EFS copy within one month of the 
mailing date of the first Filing Receipt including a confirmation number 
for the application.

   Inquiries regarding this notice should be directed to the Electronic 
Business Center Customer Service Center at 703-305-3028 or 703-308-6845.

November 30, 2000				                                        
						         Nicholas P. Godici
                                                   Commissioner for Patents
