Electronic Business Center

The Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC) assists customers with electronic patent application submissions via the Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web) and with the review of patent applications in Public and Private PAIR. The EBC offers online electronic filing information, instructional material, PatentIn and Checker support and is available to assist users through one-on-one support during its normal business hours. The EBC also serves as a liaison in directing customers to other USPTO organizations that can address their specialized business issues and needs.  

The EBC cannot help with questions about substantive patent prosecution or legal issues.

Notice of Inadvertent Access to Limited Information from Unpublished Patent Applications in Private PAIR

Upcoming Federal Holiday Hours for the EBC: 

Washington's Birthday - Monday, February 18 2013:  Closes 12:01 AM ET Saturday, February 16, 2013 - Reopens 6:00 AM ET Tuesday, February 19, 2013.

Check the System Alerts pages for announcements of all planned and unplanned outages of all USPTO Online Business systems.  See also EFS-Web Announcements  and PAIR Announcements.

The EBC can be contacted via telephone or email from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight, Eastern Time, Monday through Friday. 

Telephone: 1-866-217-9197 (toll-free)
                   571-272-4100 (local)

E-mail:        ebc@uspto.gov
Fax:             571-273-0177

Postal:         Mail Stop EBC
                    Commissioner for Patents
                    PO Box 1450
                    Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

New Users:  Please first review the New Users section and Frequently Asked Questions for introductory information about USPTO e-Commerce systems and tools. 

A Customer Number and a Digital Certificate are required to take full advantage of EFS-Web and Private PAIR. The EBC handles requests for customer numbers and digital certificates.  The EBC also assists customers in managing customer number associations with addresses and filed applications.   

• Certificate Action Form [PDF, 63kB]   Instructions  [73kB PDF Document] 
  This form is used to apply for your Digital Certificate that will provide you the means to gain secure access to your application information as well as public domain info.
•  Subscriber Agreement  [PDF, 111kB] (Feb2013)
  This is a legal document describing the agreement between the United States Patent & Trademark Office and digital certificate holder regarding the use of a USPTO digital certificate.
• Digital Certificate Management Use this site to create and recover your digital certificate, change your password, setup self-recovery codes and update your registered email address.
• Customer Number Request form  [fillable PDF, 208kB] 
  This form is used to request a customer number as well as have it associated with one or more applications.
• Request for Customer Number Data Change [filllable PDF, 180kB] 
  This form is used to request changes in current customer number information.
• Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet  [MS Excel, 241kB] 
  This is a spreadsheet template used to associate your customer number with your applications.
• Request to Update a PCT Application with a Customer Number form [MS Word, 34.5kB] 
  This allows you to  associate a PCT application in the International phase with a Customer Number for purposes of viewing the PCT application in Private PAIR.
• Export Control
  This explains the strict export license requirements on USPTO Electronic Business Center software prior to export from the U.S.

 

Some contents linked to on this page require a plug-in for PDF,  Excel and DOC files.