Patent Law News

General Information and Correspondence

All business with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) should be transacted in writing and all correspondence relating to patent matters should be addressed to “ COMMISSIONER FOR PATENTS, P.O. Box 1450; Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.” If a mail stop is appropriate, the mail should also be used. Mail addressed to different mail stops should be mailed separately to ensure proper routing. For example, after final correspondence should be mailed to “Mail Stop AF, Commissioner for Patents; P.O. Box 1450; Alexandria, VA 22313-1450,” and assignments should be mailed to “Mail Stop Assignment Services, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office; P.O. Box 1450; Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.” Correspondents should be sure to include their full return addresses, including zip codes. The principal location of the USPTO is 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, Virginia. The personal presence of applicants at the USPTO is unnecessary.

Applicants and attorneys are required to conduct their business with decorum and courtesy. Papers presented in violation of this requirement will be returned.

Separate letters (but not necessarily in separate envelopes) should be written for each distinct subject of inquiry, such as assignments, payments, orders for printed copies of patents, orders for copies of records, and requests for other services. None of these inquiries should be included with letters responding to Office actions in applications.

When a letter concerns a patent application, the correspondent must include the application number (consisting of the series code and the serial number, e.g., 07/123,456) or the serial number and, filing date assigned to that application by the Office, or the international application number of the international application number of the international application. When a letter concerns a patent (other than for purposes of payment of a maintenance fee), it should include the name of the patentee, the title of the invention, the patent number, and the date of issue.

An order for a copy of an assignment should identify the reel and frame number where the assignment or document is recorded; otherwise, an additional charge is made for the time consumed in making the search for the assignment.

Applications for patents, which are not published or issued as patents, are not generally open to the public, and no information concerning them is released except on written authority of the applicant, his/her assignee, or his/her attorney, or when necessary to the conduct of the business of the USPTO. Patent application publications and patents and related records, including records of any decisions, the records of assignments other than those relating to assignments of unpublished patent applications, patent applications that are relied upon for priority in a patent application publication or patent, books, and other records and papers in the Office are open to the public. They may be inspected in the USPTO Search Room or copies may be ordered.

The Office cannot respond to inquiries concerning the novelty and patentability of an invention prior to the filing of an application; give advice as to possible infringement of a patent; advise of the propriety of filing an application; respond to inquiries as to whether, or to whom, any alleged invention has been patented; act as an expounder of the patent law or as counselor for individuals, except in deciding questions arising before it in regularly filed cases. Information of a general nature may be furnished either directly or by supplying or calling attention to an appropriate publication.

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	Did You Know?
	There is a time limit on patent protection. For applications filed on or after June 8, 1995, utility and plant patents are granted for a term which begins with the date of the grant and usually ends 20 years from the date you first applied for the patent subject to the payment of appropriate maintenance fees. Design patents last 14 years from the date you are granted the patent. Note: Patents in force on June 8 and patents issued thereafter on applications filed prior to June 8, 1995 automatically have a term that is the greater of the twenty year term discussed above or seventeen years from the patent grant.