USPTO To Allow Electronic Revival Of Expired Patents
The United States Patent and Trademark Office announced this week that it has
launched a Web-based e-petition initiative that now permits, under certain circumstances,
the electronic filing of petitions to reinstate patents that have expired for
unintentional failure to pay the required maintenance fees at 3.5, 7.5, or 11.5
years. This initiative is part of a continuing effort to develop and improve electronic
systems for filing and processing patent applications. The new electronic "Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment
of Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent" will allow petitioners to pay
the delayed maintenance fee and surcharge on their expired patent and have the
petition automatically granted by the USPTO. According to the USPTO, these e-petitions must be filed using EFS-Web. The
petition decision is viewable instantly to the e-filer along with the electronic
receipt of EFS-Web filing. A copy is stored electronically as part of the Image
File Wrapper (IFW). The public may inspect the decision in applications that are currently viewable
in the Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system on the USPTO Web
site. If the e-filer meets all the eligibility requirements for using this e-petition,
there will be no delay in granting the petition to reinstate a patent. .
|
|
IMPORTANT NOTICE: TAX-NEWS.COM has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments. All materials on this site copyright TAX-NEWS.COM 1999 to 2007. Contact us for further information.