EFS-Web Announcements

All customers are encouraged to register so they are ready to use the full features of EFS-Web for Registered eFilers and Private PAIR.

For questions/comments or further assistance on any announcement below, please send an e-mail to ebc@uspto.gov or call the Patent Electronic Business Center at 1-866-217-9197 (toll-free) or 571-272-4100 from 6 a.m. to 12 Midnight Eastern Time, Monday – Friday.

EFS-Web Availability:

New Applications:	24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year
Follow-on Submissions:	23 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year . Unavailable daily from 4:30AM - 5:30AM ET
Fee Payment:	24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. May be unavailable on Sundays 2:00AM - 6:00AM ET

 

Advisory (20SEPT2012):  Version 2.2.4 of the ADS form (PTO/AIA/14) is now available. If you filed version 2.2.3 or earlier and marked the "Authorization to Permit Access" checkbox, the ADS received by USPTO may not display your selection. The version number can be located at the lower left of the AIA/14 form. 

Applicants are advised to check Private PAIR to verify the indication on the PTO/AIA/14 that is filed via EFS-Web, and to review the filing receipt which will indicate when an acceptable authorization has been received. If your authorization was not recorded, a PTO/SB/39 form can be used to provide authorization to access by Participating Offices.

 

Advisory (19SEPT2012): Effective September 16, 2012, Supplemental Examination requests and Third-Party Preissuance Submissions under 37 CFR 1.290 may be filed by selecting the appropriate options via EFS-Web.

For more info, please see:

• Supplemental Examination Quick Start Guide [PDF 2.4MB]

• AIA micro-site: Supplemental Exam

• Third-Party Submissions Quick Start Guide [PDF 1.83MB]

• AIA micro-site: Third-Party Submission

• EFS-Web Legal Framework – update will be posted soon

 

Some Patent forms have been updated due to the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA).

Please see the Patents Forms page for more info.

 

Petitions for Inter Partes Review, Post Grant Review, and Transitional Program for Covered Business Method Patents cannot be filed via EFS-Web and must be filed via the new Patent Review Processing System (PRPS).

 

Advisory (13SEPTEMBER2012): Due to system maintenance, EFS-Web & EFS-Web Contingency will be unavailable from 12 a.m. until 6 a.m. Sunday, September 16. 

Advisory (24AUGUST2012): EFS-Web filers may use Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9.5.2 and 10.1.4 to complete EFS-Web Fillable Forms (eADS, eIDS, etc.). Previous versions remain compatible:
• 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4
• 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, 8.1.5, 8.1.6, 8.1.7, 8.2, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.2.4, 8.2.5, 8.2.6, 8.3, 8.3.1;
• 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.4, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.4, 9.4.5, 9.4.6, 9.4.7, 9.5, 9.5.1;
• 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.1, 10.1.1, 10.1.2, 10.1.3

Advisory (30July2012): Delivery of U.S. Pre-Grant Search Results to the EPO Without Delay Requires Timely Consent From Applicants

Current EPO regulations require that search results from an application, to which a European patent application filed on or after January 1, 2011 claims priority, must be filed with the EPO without delay after the search results are made available to applicants. See Amended Rule 141(1) EPC (European Patent Convention).  For the time being, U.S. applicants are exempt from personally providing search results for a U.S. priority application to the EPO as a result of an arrangement worked out between the USPTO and the EPO, whereby the USPTO will electronically deliver search results from priority U.S. applications to the EPO, as a no-charge service to applicants.  See Electronic Delivery of Search Results From the United States Patent and Trademark Office to the European Patent Office, 76 FR 82279 (December 30, 2011).  

Maintenance of the exemption, however, is dependent upon delivery of search results by the USPTO to the EPO as soon as they become available, including when search results are available prior to publication of the U.S. application.  Because 35 U.S.C. 122 prohibits the USPTO from providing information about an as-yet unpublished application to a third party without the applicant’s consent, timely delivery of pre-publication search results requires applicant cooperation in providing the USPTO with the proper consent to release the search result information to the EPO.  Failure of applicants to provide the USPTO with the required consent will prevent the USPTO from delivering the search results in a timely fashion and could result in EPO rescinding the exemption, which would require all U.S. applicants to provide the search result information to the EPO at their own time and expense.

Therefore, applicants are strongly urged to timely file the Certification and Authorization form PTO/SB/69 (available at http://www.uspto.gov/forms/sb0069.pdf) in each application that is intended to form the basis for a claim of priority to a corresponding application filed with the EPO.  This form provides applicant’s consent for the USPTO to deliver to the EPO the search results from an unpublished U.S. application.  Applicants should file the form prior to filing a European application that claims priority to the U.S. application in order for search results to be delivered to the EPO without delay should they become available prior to publication of the U.S. application.

When filing form PTO/SB/69 using EFS-Web, applicants should be careful to select the correct document description “PTO/SB/69 - Authorize EPO Access to Search Results,” which can be found under the General Transmittal category.  Identifying form PTO/SB/69 using any other document description will significantly delay or prevent delivery of the search results from an unpublished U.S. application to the EPO.

Advisory (24MAY2012): New Maximum Daily Limit for Credit Cards – Effective June 30, 2012

The maximum daily limit per credit card or debit card account is currently $99,999.99.  Effective June 30, 2012, the daily limit per credit card account will be lowered to $49,999.99, and the daily limit for debit cards will be eliminated.  All credit card and debit card payments are processed through the Department of the Treasury’s Pay.gov system.  The new daily limit for credit cards will automatically be enforced through the Pay.gov 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 Web site, and wire transfer through the Federal Reserve Fedwire System.

Advisory (3MAY2012): Please Do Not Install Java 7
On May 2, Oracle Corporation announced that Java 7 update 4 (7u4) is now the new default Java version. If you have the Java Update feature enabled on your computer, you may be prompted to update
to the latest version. At this time, EFS-Web and Private PAIR do not support Java 7.

USPTO recommends that you do not upgrade to Java 7 until further notice. We are aware of the problem and will continue to work on the issue until it is resolved.
If you encounter any problems, please call the Patent Electronic Business Center at 866-217-9197 (toll free) or send an email to EBC@uspto.gov

Advisory (3MAY2012): Learn more about the eOffice Action program at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/process/status/e-Office_Action.jsp which will notify you via email that an Office communication is available for viewing and downloading in Private PAIR 

Advisory (3MAY2012):  Visit http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/afcp.jsp to learn about the After Final Consideration Pilot, part of the USPTO’s on-going efforts towards compact prosecution and increased collaboration between examiners and stakeholders.

Advisory (20APRIL2012): EFS-Web filers may use Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9.5.1 and 10.1.3 to complete EFS-Web Fillable Forms (eADS, eIDS, etc.). Previous versions remain compatible:
• 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4
• 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, 8.1.5, 8.1.6, 8.1.7, 8.2, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.2.4, 8.2.5, 8.2.6, 8.3, 8.3.1;
• 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.4, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.4, 9.4.5, 9.4.6, 9.4.7, 9.5;
• 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.1, 10.1.1, 10.1.2

Advisory (6APR2012): Problem with Firefox and older Java versions

On April 2, Mozilla Foundation announced that the Firefox browser would start blocking older versions of the Java plug-in from running.

When accessing EFS-Web for Registered eFilers and Private PAIR with Firefox, an error message may appear on the Authentication Page stating: Java Not Enabled.

USPTO recommends that you upgrade to the latest version of Java, which is Version 6 Update 31.  Please visit www.Java.com using your Firefox browser, click on “Free Java Download”, and follow the installation steps provided.

For assistance, please call the Patent EBC at (866) 217-9197 (toll free) or send email to EBC@uspto.gov.

Advisory (6APR2012): The online fee payment amounts in EFS-Web are set to the current fee schedule.  The transmittal fee, international filing fee, international search fee or other fee amounts payable for a PCT international application may not equal the online fee payment amount.  As a result, online fee payment in EFS-Web is not available when the online fee amount is not equal to the fee amount that is desired to be paid.  See MPEP 502.05(II)(E) for alternative means of fee payment.

Advisory (5APR2012): Tell your friends and family USPTO is hiring patent examiners in a variety of engineering, science & IP law disciplines. Amazing benefits and opportunities to support economic growth in an exciting field of work. Visit www.USPTOcareers.gov for more

Advisory (21FEB2012): The Office is no longer accepting Petitions to Make Special Under the Green Technology Pilot Program or requests for reconsideration based solely on a defective original petition.  The program will meet its limit based on petitions that were previously filed and are awaiting decision.

The pending petitions will be taken in turn as set forth in the original Notice, i.e., in the order that the applications are in condition for examination.  The Office will treat any pending petition in an application that is in condition for examination on or before the cut-off date, i.e., the date that the 3,500th application for which a petition is granted was in condition for examination.  Pending requests for reconsideration based upon a defective original petition will only be considered if they were filed on or before the cut-off date.

Requests for reconsideration based solely on an erroneous decision may continue to be filed and will be considered.

More information on the program can be found at http://www.uspto.gov/patents/init_events/green_tech.jsp.

Advisory (17JAN2012): EFS-Web filers may use Adobe Reader and Acrobat versions 9.5 and 10.1.2 to complete EFS-Web Fillable Forms (eADS, eIDS, etc.). Previous versions remain compatible:
• 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4
• 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, 8.1.5, 8.1.6, 8.1.7, 8.2, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.2.4, 8.2.5, 8.2.6, 8.3, 8.3.1;
• 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.4, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.4, 9.4.5, 9.4.6, 9.4.7;
• 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.1, 10.1.1

Advisory (28DEC2011): EFS-Web filers may use Adobe Reader and Acrobat version 9.4.7 to complete EFS-Web Fillable Forms (eADS, eIDS, etc.). Previous versions remain compatible:
• 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4
• 8.1.1, 8.1.2, 8.1.3, 8.1.4, 8.1.5, 8.1.6, 8.1.7, 8.2, 8.2.1, 8.2.2, 8.2.3, 8.2.4, 8.2.5, 8.2.6, 8.3, 8.3.1;
• 9.0, 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.2, 9.2, 9.3, 9.3.1, 9.3.2, 9.3.3, 9.3.4, 9.4, 9.4.1, 9.4.2, 9.4.3, 9.4.4, 9.4.5, 9.4.6, 9.4.7;
• 10.0, 10.0.1, 10.1, 10.1.1

Advisory (19DEC2011): The United States Patent and Trademark Office is pleased to announce the addition of two new beta ePetitions to EFS-Web.
>>For more information, please see the ePetition Resource Page. Please feel free to suggest any improvements and email them to ebc@uspto.gov

Advisory (29NOV2011): eTerminal Disclaimer (beta) Added to EFS-Web

The United States Patent and Trademark Office is pleased to announce the beta release of eTerminal Disclaimer in EFS-Web. The new eTerminal Disclaimer provides applicants with many advantages and promotes greater efficiency in the patent examination process. This web-based eTerminal Disclaimer can be filled out completely online through web-screens and no EFS-Web fillable forms are required. eTerminal Disclaimers are auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission if the request meets all of the requirements.

Fees must be paid immediately which will then provide users more financial flexibility. A paper filed Terminal Disclaimer requires a fee but does not guarantee a Terminal Disclaimer approval. Each eTerminal Disclaimer filed requires a single terminal disclaimer fee, but can include up to 50 “reference applications” and 50 "prior patents".

During the beta period, eTerminal Disclaimers cannot be filed to a patent application that has yet to be docketed to an examiner. Applicants can check the Transaction History Tab of Public or Private PAIR to determine if their application has been docketed to an examiner. To file a terminal disclaimer to an undocketed application, please complete form SB/25 or SB/26 and submit the forms for manual review.

The Quick Start Guide for eTerminal Disclaimer is available at:

www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp

For assistance with filing an eTerminal Disclaimer, or to suggest improvements, please call the Patent Electronic Business Center at 866-217-9197 (toll free) or send an email to EBC@uspto.gov

 

 Announcement Archives: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006