Patent It Yourself - PDF Archive

284 | Patent it YOURSELF
9. Receipt That Application
Was Received in PTO
About two to four weeks after you send your application
to the PTO, you’ll get your postcard back, with the filing
date of your application, and also with a bar code sticker
indicating an eight-digit serial number (for example,
“11/123,456”) that has been assigned to your application.
Within about a week to a month after that (sometimes
longer), you should get an official filing receipt back from
the PTO indicating that your application has been officially
filed. Check the information on the filing receipt carefully
and let the OIPE (Office of Initial Patent Examination)
know if there are any errors.
If for any reason your application is incomplete or
deficient, the PTO will not regard it as officially “filed” but
rather as “deposited.” The OIPE (Office of Initial Patent
Examination) of the PTO will send you a letter stating the
deficiency in your application and telling you to promptly
remedy it. However, if you follow all the instructions in
this chapter, including the checklist on the previous page,
carefully, you’ll get your filing receipt in due course.
Once you get the filing receipt, your application is
officially “patent pending.” As discussed in Chapter 7,
unless you want to keep your invention a trade secret, (in
case your patent application is eventually disallowed),
you may publish details of your invention or market it to
whomever you choose. You will not lose any legal rights in
the U.S. or Convention or treaty countries (see Chapter 12).
If you manufacture anything embodying your invention,
you should mark it “patent pending” and keep your
application, serial number, and filing date confidential to
preserve rights in non-Convention countries and prevent
access by potential copiers. As stated, if you mailed your
application by Express Mail and you faithfully followed
the checklists, you may refer to your invention as “patent
pending” as soon as you get the EM receipt.
F. Finaling Your Specification
for EFS-WebFiling
The PTO’s Electronic Filing System using the Internet
(EFS-Web) enables patent applications, amendments, and
other documents to be filed electronically over the Internet.
However, it requires some time to master, as well as time
for conversion of documents to the Portable Data Format
(PDF). But its advantages are so great that even if you’re
filing just one application, it is worth the effort. As stated,
its advantages are: You can (1) file an application anytime
and from anywhere that has Internet access, (2) obtain
instant confirmation of receipt of documents by the PTO,
(3) send an application to the PTO without having to go to
the post office to get an Express Mail receipt, (4) file with
confidence because you will get an instant acknowledgment
without having to prepare a postcard or wait for a postcard
receipt, (5 ) pay a reduced filing fee—see Fee Schedule in
Appendix 4, and (6 ) file an application without having to
prepare an application transmittal, a fee transmittal, receipt
postcard, or check or Credit Card Payment Form (CCPF).
Become a Registered eFiler (If Time Permits)
If you plan on filing electronically and if you can wait
several weeks to file, I recommend you become a
registered eFiler. You’ll have to deal with red tape,
including filling out a form to obtain a customer number,
sending a notarized certificate to the PTO, obtaining
access codes, and calling the PTO to confirm, but as a
registered eFiler you’ll be able to track your application’s
progress and file additional documents or corrections.
To register go to www.uspto.gov/ebc/index.html, click
“Register Now,” and follow the detailed instructions. If
you can’t wait several weeks, you can use EFS-Web to file
an application as an unregistered eFiler and register later.
The PTO now has an optional “e-Office Action” service
whereby they will send all correspondence to up to three of
your email addresses in lieu of postal mail. To guard against
lost emails, they will send a postcard reminder if the email
is not opened within a week. This service can be useful if
you’re traveling, your mail is unreliable, or you want to get
correspondence quickly. If you’re a registered eFiler you can
sign up for this service at www.uspto.gov/patents/ebc. Then
click “Private PAIR,” sign in with your Digital Certificate
and Password, click and open “View Customer Number
Details,” click “Request Customer Data Change[s],” and
select “Receive Correspondence Notification via e-Mail.”
If you’re ready to file electronically, take the following
steps:
• Prepare the Application as Usual: Before you go
online, prepare the entire application as instructed
in Chapters 8 to 10, except omit the Application
Transmittal form, Fee Transmittal form, Receipt
Postcard, and check or CCPF. Sign the Declaration as
usual.
• Convert Your Application to PDF Format: Convert all
documents of the application (Drawings, Specification,
including any Claims and Abstract), to PDF documents
in your computer. There are many programs available
(some of them free) that can convert documents to