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.
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