New Software for Electronic U.S. Patent Filings After December 23, 2004

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is releasing updates to the Patent Electronic Filing System (EFS) software in response to passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 on December 8, 2004. This software must be installed as of December 23, 2004 in order to submit any electronic patent filings.

Unfortunately, the software is not yet available on the USPTO's Software Download page. The Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC) is in the process of mailing updated software to all EFS customers. If you do not receive the software or have any questions regarding the new software, please contact the Patent EBC at 703-305-3028 or toll free at 866-217-9197 between the hours of 6 a.m. and midnight Monday through Friday EST, or by e-mail at: ebc@uspto.gov.

The updates to EFS include the following legislative fee changes:

• Revised patent fees
• A separate fee for filing a patent, searching a patent, and examining a patent (all of which are due on filing) and
• An additional fee for any patent application whose specification and drawings exceed 100 sheets of paper (> "> application size> "> fee).

The EFS upgrades also include the following changes to EFS-ABX and ePAVE:

• EFS-ABX v1.2 now exports all TIF images in compliance with Annex F standards.
• EFS-ABX v1.2 sets initial formatting of Paragraphs and Claims as 12 pt font, and 1.5 line spacing as detailed in the MPEP.
• ABXPDF Writer has been enhanced to ensure that USPTO standard PDF files are generated.
• ePAVE v5.2 also changes the format of the Application Data sheet to display all seven-section headings even if there is no data present in a section.
• ePAVE v5.2 incorporates Fee Legislation changes as passed by the United States Congress on December 8, 2004.

For current information, visit the Electronic Filing Software page on the Patent EBC web site.