Effective November 8, the USPTO’s Patent Center system will fully replace the EFS-Web system and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (Private PAIR) tool for the electronic filing and management of patent applications. The transition to the Patent Center system is essential to ensure that USPTO tools continue to meet and evolve with user needs for patent application filing and retrieval.

NASA scientist Robert Bryant’s persistence with a special polymer paved his way to the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Bryant’s perspective on a special polymer moved its use from the troposphere to inside the human body.

Opened on October 15, 2015, the USPTO’s Silicon Valley Regional Office (SVRO) is appropriately housed in one of the area’s most impressive technological triumphs: San Jose City Hall, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier and built in 2005.

USPTO, U.S. Administration work to leverage artificial intelligence’s promise—and minimize its potential problems.

Rory Cooper has devoted his life to accomplishing big things for a small segment of the American population.

Single mother and secretary Bette Nesmith Graham conquered fear to create a revolutionary office invention. Her lifelong passion for the arts—combined with a healthy dose of perseverance—saved her career.

The stately portrait of Elijah J. McCoy—a Canadian-American engineer of African-American descent who invented lubrication systems for steam engines—stands proudly at the first regional office in the history of the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

In support of its initiatives to expand inclusive innovation and entrepreneurship to grow jobs and improve lives, the USPTO announced the renaming of its Edison Visiting Scholars Program after Dr. Marian Rogers Croak.

Meeting with leaders of world’s 5 largest IP offices focused on sustainable innovation, net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Our work ties directly into the U.S. administration’s priority to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Enter the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Its Council for Inclusive Innovation (CI2) First-Time Filer Expedited Examination Pilot Program improves access to the patent application process for participants filing nonprovisional patent applications for the first time.

This event led by Commerce Department and USPTO provides information to help veterans start businesses. More than 100 military personnel, military spouses, and veterans attended in-person—with hundreds more online—as they heard from experts in business development and intellectual property.

Daughter of Gatorade inventor continues in father’s footsteps with Cade Museum for Creativity & Invention. This began with a lifelong journey of what Phoebe calls “inventivity”—a combination of invention and creativity.

When a collaboration goes wrong: A look at rare derivation proceedings before the PTAB. If you as an inventor find yourself in this situation, what can you do?

On the morning of September 20, 2017, as the roar of Hurricane Maria gave way to an ominous silence under an overcast sky, Vanessa Carballido Clerch and her parents made their way down a residential street in Guaynabo, a suburb of San Juan, Puerto Rico, back to the home they had evacuated in the middle of the night.

To get a patent, an inventor must file a patent application at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. This article explains the patent process in general, what actions you can take, and how the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) may figure into the process.

We’ve come a long way from the first U.S. design patent, which did not even involve a drawing. According to USPTO projections, the 1 millionth U.S. design patent may potentially be issued in October of this year.

Patent claims capture the scope of an invention and define the meets-and-bounds of protection available for the invention. A patent’s written description describes the invention and informs the meaning of the terms used in the patent claims. The USPTO interprets the meaning of words in the claims by referring primarily to the written description—and, on occasion, to other sources.

Damian Earley’s participation in Ohio Invention League helped propel him to invention successes, and motivate siblings. Damian was introduced to the invention league through a school assembly in second grade.

If an examiner has twice rejected your claims or issued a final rejection of your patent application, you may file an appeal before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB or the Board).

Panelists at “Invention-Con 2023: Building Tomorrow’s Innovation” were powerful reminders of the collaborative spirit of inventing and entrepreneurship; the indisputable importance of intellectual property; and a world of resources that are waiting to be utilized.

One year into my role as director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office—at the intersection of IP law, policy, and innovation—I am focused on impact.

In the 1880s, second assistant patent examiner Henry E. Baker took on a project that became his legacy: compiling the first list of African American patent holders. By studying and expanding on Baker’s work, we can get a much fuller picture of Black creators, trailblazers, and disruptors who helped invent modern America.