A Sign of the Times: USPTO Switches to e-Grants

As of April 18, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) only issues electronic patent grants (eGrants). eGrants are available as pdf files through Patent Center, the USPTO's electronic patent application filing and management system. The electronic patent grant is the official statutory patent grant. To see a sample, click here. For all patents issued prior to April 18, 2023, the issued paper patent will still be the official statutory patent grant. Ceremonial paper copies of patents will still be available for purchase. A presentation and certified copies are also available for a fee.

eGrant patents mean the patent is available to the patentee and public on the day of issue, minimizing the pendency between the mailing of the Issue Notification and the issuing of the eGrant. Practitioners may want to consider the impact of reduced pendency on their current policies and practices around filing continuation applications. See M.P.E.P. § 211.01(b)(I). Generally, issue notifications will be available electronically via Patent Center after payment of the issue fee, usually on the Wednesday or Thursday before the patent issues. Certificates of correction and reexamination certificates will not be issued electronically at this time.

The USPTO noted that like now, no hour/minute timestamp is involved; only the date of issue is considered for meeting the copendency requirements of M.P.E.P. § 211.01(b).

Also related to the USPTO’s move to an e-Office, a Request for Comments issued on April 5, 2023, seeking public comments on the Patent Center e-Office Action program (“Notice”). 88 Fed. Reg. 20,140 (Apr. 5, 2023). Patent Center, once fully developed, will replace EFS-Web and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. The Patent Center e-Office Action program also offers a new option for users to receive courtesy postcards by email as a reminder that USPTO communications have not been viewed or downloaded.

The Notice also indicated that the USPTO will migrate all participants from the Private PAIR e-Office Action program to the Patent Center e-Office Action program about four weeks from the publication of the Notice, i.e., around May 3, 2023.