THE USPTO HAS WAIVED THE REQUIREMENT TO SUBMIT PAPER COPIES OF US PATENTS/PUB. APPLICATIONS IN IDS'S FOR APPLICATIONS FILED AFTER JUNE 30, 2003--THIS WILL SAVE A LOT OF TIME AND MANY TREES!
Background
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or Office) regulations concerning Information Disclosure Statements (IDSs) currently require that copies of the cited references be submitted with the IDS listing. See 37 CFR 1.98 (a)(2). In a prior notice in the Official Gazette this requirement was partially waived with respect to U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications when an applicant submitted an IDS using the Office's electronic filing system (as an electronic IDS, eIDS). See Legal Framework for the Use of the Electronic Filing System, 1263 Off. Gaz. Pat. Off. 60, 10/8/2002, Part V.
All U.S. applications [1] filed after June 30, 2003 are stored in electronic form in the Office's Image File Wrapper (IFW) system. [2] IDSs submitted for these electronic applications are processed by Office staff to create an electronic link which permits cited U.S. patents and U.S. patent application publications to be conveniently viewed by examiners through the Office's patent search system. This feature enables the Office to avoid scanning these documents into IFW, obviating the need for their submission.
Waiver
The Office hereby waives the requirement under 37 CFR 1.98 (a)(2)(i) for submitting a copy of each cited U.S. patent and each U.S. patent application publication for all U.S. national patent applications filed after June 30, 2003 and for all international applications that have entered the national stage under 35 USC § 371 after June 30, 2003. See 37 CFR 1.491(b). For all patent applications filed on or before June 30, 2003, copies of cited U.S. patents and patent application publications are still required unless an eIDS is filed.
Applicants are still required to submit copies of foreign patent documents and non-patent literature in accordance with 37 CFR 1.98(a)(2).
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