Just the Fax, Please
Among those documents that the USPTO will not accept by fax are …
◆ New or continuing patent applications of any type.
◆ Assignments.
◆ Issue fee payments.
◆ Maintenance fee payments.
◆ Declarations or oaths under 37 CFR 1.63 or 1.67.
◆ Formal drawings.
◆ All papers relating to international patent applications.
◆ Papers to be filed in applications subject to a secrecy order under 37 CFR 5.1- 5.8 and directly related to the secrecy order content of the application.
Your fax submissions may include a certificate for each paper stating the date of transmission. A copy of the facsimile submission with a certificate faxed with it will be evidence of transmission of the paper, should the original be misplaced. The person signing the certificate should have a reasonable basis to expect that the paper would be transmitted on the date indicated. Here’s an example of a preferred certificate:
Certification of Facsimile Transmission
I hereby certify that this paper is being facsimile transmitted to the Patent and Trademark Office on the date shown below.
When possible, the certification should appear on a portion of the paper being transmitted. If the certification is presented on a separate paper, it must identify the application it relates to and the type of paper being transmitted (such as amendment, notice of appeal, and so on).
If the USPTO loses or misplaces the facsimile submission, the submission will be considered filed on the date of the transmission, if the party who transmitted the paper …
1. Informs the USPTO of the previous facsimile transmission promptly after becoming aware that the submission has been misplaced or lost.
2. Supplies another copy of the previously transmitted submission with the Certification of the Transmission.
3. Supplies a copy of the sending unit’s report confirming transmission of the submission. If a copy of the report is not available, the party who transmitted the paper may file a declaration under 37 CFR 1.68, which attests to the previous timely transmission on a personal knowledge basis or to the satisfaction of the commissioner.
If all these criteria cannot be met, the USPTO will require you to submit a verified showing of facts. Such a showing must indicate to the satisfaction of the commissioner the date the USPTO received the submission.
Bright Ideas
Sylvan N. Goldman, son of Jewish immigrants, was born in 1898 and grew up in the Oklahoma Territory. After some ups and downs, by the mid-1930s, he owned half of the Piggly Wiggly grocery chain. In 1936, Goldman wondered how to help his customers carry more groceries and then got an idea. He and mechanic Fred Young started to tinker. Their first shopping cart was a metal frame that held two wire baskets. The frame was designed to be folded to nest the baskets. By 1940, shopping carts were engrained in American life. Supermarket checkouts were redesigned and the layout of aisles was changed. In 1947, the folding cart gave way to the single-basket carts we use today.
The Least You Need to Know
◆ A provisional patent costs less and does less to protect your invention.
◆ A nonprovisional patent has teeth that grip. This patent is what you ultimately want for the greatest protection of your invention.
◆ It’s important to keep your application in the proper order.
◆ Done wrong, claims can turn steak into dog food.
◆ If you opt not to build prototypes, I hope you like to eat patents, because no one pays for paper.
◆ You can now patent computer programs, but the USPTO and the courts are still developing the guidelines and controlling authority.
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