Check this page for the latest information on operating status and availability of Online Business Systems. For Standard Hours of Availability for Online Business Systems, System Descriptions, and Operating Requirements/Compatibilities, see the links at left.
USPTO Operating Status
Although parts of the federal government have experienced a lapse in appropriations, the USPTO remains open for business as normal until further notice.
Posted at 03:22PM Dec 21, 2018 in Current Status |
Planned Events
The USPTO will be performing maintenance impacting several systems beginning at 12:01 a.m., Friday, January 11 and 5 a.m., Friday, January 11 ET.
During the maintenance period, the following systems will be unavailable:
The USPTO will be performing maintenance impacting the Digital Certificate Management (DCM) website beginning at 12:01 a.m., Friday, January 11 and ending at 5 a.m., Friday, January 11 ET.
During the maintenance period, users will be unable to manage their External Public Key Infrastructure (EPKI) profiles via the DCM website.
The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system beginning at 10 p.m., Friday, January 11 and ending at 2 a.m., Saturday, January 12 ET.
TSDR will not be available during the maintenance period. Links to TSDR will not be available from the following systems:
The USPTO will perform maintenance affecting several systems beginning at 12:01 a.m., Saturday, January 12 and ending at 5 a.m., Saturday, January 12.
The following systems and systems that interface with these systems will be unavailable during the maintenance period:
The following systems and systems that interface with these systems will be unavailable during the maintenance period:
Authentication with USPTO.gov account to EFS-Web and Private PAIR will be unavailable. Users will still be able to use their Public Key Identification (PKI) certificates to logon to Electronic Filing System - Web (EFS-Web) and Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR).
EFS-Web and Private PAIR Maintenance:
DOCX functionality will be unavailable. Specifically, users will be unable to file in the DOCX format or save any DOCX submissions within EFS-Web and will be unable to access the DOCX format within Private PAIR during the maintenance period. However, users will still be able to file, save, and access portable document formats (PDFs) in EFS-Web and Private PAIR. If you have questions, please contact the Patent Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (866) 217-9197 during their operating hours of 6 a.m. to midnight ET, Monday - Friday, or email ebc@uspto.gov.
EFS-Web and Private PAIR users will no longer be able to authenticate using PKI certificates as of February 15, 2019. There is now a new, simpler, and safer login method. The USPTO is moving from using PKI certificates for two-factor authentication because the software will no longer be supported.
Creating an account
If you or your support staff do not already have USPTO.gov accounts, you and each of your staff will need to create one and opt in for two-step authentication.
Migrating an existing account
If you are a registered practitioner or independent inventor with an existing PKI digital certificate, use the Migration Tool with these step-by-step instructions to link your new USPTO.gov account to your current PKI digital certificates. The Migration Tool will no longer be available as of March 1, 2019.
Sponsoring support staff
Registered practitioners can use the Sponsorship Tool to sponsor their support staff to work on their behalf. Please follow these step-by-step instructions. Once support staff are successfully sponsored, they will be able to sign in using their own USPTO.gov accounts and select the registered practitioner on whose behalf that they are working.
Using your new account
Use these new URLs for EFS-Web and Private PAIR when signing in with your USPTO.gov account. You will need to update any bookmarks you may have:
More Information
Please review the Patent Electronic System Access Document for additional information on authentication, sponsorship, and verification for accessing patent electronic systems.
We invite you to register for multiple information sessions related to this authentication change, because new information will be added as it becomes available.
For more information, visit Authentication Change for EFS-Web and PAIR.
If you need assistance creating your USPTO.gov account, please call the USPTO Contact Center (UCC) at 800-786-9199. For assistance with migration, sponsorship, or signing into EFS-Web and PAIR, please contact the Patent Electronic Business Center at ebc@uspto.gov or 866-217-9197.
Posted at 05:13PM Jan 07, 2019 in Planned Events |