e-Office Action allows timely receipt of patent-related correspondence

The USPTO offers electronic notification of agency communications, including office actions, via the e-Office Action program. Participants in the e-Office Action program receive an email notification documenting new USPTO communications when they are available in Private PAIR with relevant details about the communication, such as the application number, attorney docket number, the mail date, and the document code for the Office action or notice. The USPTO encourages all patent application filers to sign up for e-Office Action, particularly now, as certain foreign postal operations have experienced delays and/or closures.

If you are not a participant in the e-Office Action program and the correspondence address for your application is located in a country experiencing a closure of postal operations, the Office communications for your application are likely to be returned to the USPTO as being undeliverable. If this is the case, the USPTO will re-mail the returned correspondence in accordance with Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 707.13.

Please note that the e-Office Action program does not apply to Patent Cooperation Treaty international applications under 35 U.S.C. 363 and reexamination proceedings. For these matters, USPTO communications are mailed to the address of record.

For more information, visit the e-Office Action program webpage on the USPTO website.

If you have questions about the e-Office Action program or about how to become a registered user, contact the Patent Electronic Business Center at ebc@uspto.gov or 866-217-9197.

Receiving office communications electronically

USPTO encourage customers to take advantage of the efficiency and convenience of our online business systems. The USPTO currently offers electronic notification of office communications, including office actions to those participating in the e-Office Action program. We encourage registered users of the USPTO’s Patent Electronic Systems who are not currently participating in the e-Office Action program to log into Private PAIR to update their Customer Number details to receive electronic notifications of office communications (e.g., by selecting the option “Receive Correspondence Notification via e-Mail” on the Edit Customer Details screen).

For more information, visit the e-Office Action program webpage on the USPTO website.

If you have questions about the e-Office Action program or on how to become a registered user, contact the Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC) at ebc@uspto.gov or 866-217-9197.

Correspondence Address for Patents

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 90 (Tuesday, May 10, 2011)]
[Notices][Pages 27020-27022]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
United States Patent and Trademark Office

Representative and Address Provisions

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.
I. Abstract

Under 35 U.S.C. 2 and 37 CFR 1.31-1.36, a patent applicant or assignee of record may grant power of attorney to a person who is registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to act for them in a patent or application. A power of attorney may also be revoked, and a registered practitioner may also withdraw as attorney or agent of record under 37 CFR 1.36. The rules of practice (37 CFR 1.33) also provide for the applicant, assignee, or practitioner of record to supply a correspondence address and daytime telephone number for receiving notices, official letters, and other communications from the USPTO. Maintaining a correct and updated correspondence address is necessary so that official correspondence from the USPTO related to a patent or application will be properly received by the applicant, assignee, or practitioner.

The USPTO's Customer Number practice permits applicants, assignees, and practitioners of record to change the correspondence address or representatives of record for a number of patents or applications with one change request instead of filing separate requests for each patent or application.
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Customers may request a Customer Number from the USPTO and associate this Customer Number with a correspondence address or a list of registered practitioners. Any changes to the address or practitioner information associated with a Customer Number will be applied to all patents and applications associated with that Customer Number.

The Customer Number practice is optional, in that changes of correspondence address or power of attorney may be filed separately for each patent or application without using a Customer Number. However, a Customer Number associated with the correspondence address for a patent application is required in order to access private information about the application using the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system, which is available through the USPTO Web site. The PAIR system gives authorized individuals secure online access to application status information, but only for patent applications that are linked to a Customer Number. Customer Numbers may be associated with U.S. patent applications as well as international Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications. The use of a Customer Number is also required in order to grant power of attorney to more than ten practitioners or to establish a separate ``fee address'' for maintenance fee purposes that is different from the correspondence address for a patent or application.

In addition to the forms offered by the USPTO to assist customers with providing the information in this collection, customers may also format requests using a Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet to designate or change the correspondence address or fee address for a list of patents or applications by associating them with a Customer Number. The Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet must be submitted to the USPTO on a computer-readable diskette or compact disc (CD), accompanied by a signed cover letter requesting entry of the address changes for the listed patents and applications. The spreadsheet and cover letter must be mailed to the USPTO and cannot be filed electronically. Customers may download a Microsoft Excel template with instructions from the USPTO Web site to assist them in preparing the spreadsheet in the proper format. The Customer Number Upload Spreadsheet may not be used to change the power of attorney for patents or applications.

This information collection includes the information necessary to submit a request to grant or revoke power of attorney for an application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, and for a registered practitioner to withdraw as attorney or agent of record. This collection also includes the information necessary to change the correspondence address for an application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, to request a Customer Number and manage the correspondence address and list of practitioners associated with a Customer Number, and to designate or change the correspondence address or fee address for one or more patents or applications by using a Customer Number.

To view the full text of this notice, access http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=2011_register&docid=fr10my11-39.