No More Paper Patents at the USPTO!

March 2023

The USPTO is finally going digital, much like the rest of the world. Effective from 18 April 2023, all US patents (utility, design, plant and reissue) will be issued electronically through the USPTO Patent Center in lieu of physical copies.

For a limited transition period, bound paper versions of granted patents will continue to be delivered to the correspondence address of record for free as a courtesy copy of the official eGrant. After a certain period of time (not yet announced), paper patents will only be available for purchase with a nominal fee.

The duration of the transition period and the amount of nominal fee will be announced officially at a later time.

It is important to note that the USPTO anticipates a much shorter time gap between the payment of the issue fee and patent issuance in view of the transition. This would mean less time is available for any actions that have to be taken before a patent issues, for example, filing continuing applications. As always, we encourage you to file your continuing applications before the issue fees are paid to err on the safe side.

If you have any questions regarding the USPTO’s new eGrant system or any other IP matters, please feel free to get in touch with us at eip@eipgroup.asia.

 

This article is for general informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice or a legal opinion on a specific set of facts.