Electronic Publication of Certificates of Correction on the United States Patent and Trademark Office Web Site with Later Listing in the Official Gazette
Beginning in September of 2001, pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §§ 10(a), 254, and 255, and 37 CFR 1.322 and 1.323, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will publish on the USPTO web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/certofcorrect a listing by patent number of the patents for which certificates of correction are being issued on that day.
The USPTO is now automating the publication process for certificates of correction. This new process will accelerate the building of each weekly issue of certificates and thus outpace the three-week lead time required for the publication of the listing of certificates of correction in the Official Gazette of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - Patents (Official Gazette) on the date of their issuance. Under the newly automated process, each issue of certificates of correction will be electronically published on the USPTO web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/certofcorrect and will be listed in the Official Gazette (and in the Official Gazette Notices posted at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og ) approximately three weeks thereafter. The listing of certificates of correction in the Official Gazette will include the date of issuance.
On the date on which the listing of certificates of correction is electronically published on the USPTO web site at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/certofcorrect : (1) the certificate of correction will be entered into the file wrapper of the patent and will be available to the public; (2) a printed copy of the certificate of correction will be mailed to the patentee or the patent's assignee; and (3) an image of the printed certificate of correction will be added to the image of the patent on the patent database at https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/landing.html. Dissemination of all other paper copies of the certificate of correction will occur shortly thereafter.
The date on which the USPTO makes the certificate of correction available to the public (e.g., by adding the certificate of correction to the file wrapper) will be regarded as the date of issuance of the certificate of correction. See Southwest Software Inc. v. Harlequin, Inc., 226 F.3d 1280, 1294, 56 USPQ2d 1161, 1172 (Fed. Cir. 2000). ("The certificate of correction is only effective for causes of action arising after it was issued.") Certificates of correction published in the above-described manner will provide the public with prompt notice and access and is consistent with the legislative intent behind the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999. See 35 U.S.C. § 10(a) (authorizing the USPTO Director to publish in electronic form).
The listing of certificates of correction can be electronically accessed on the day of issuance at http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/certofcorrect . The electronic image of the printed certificate of correction can be accessed on the patent database at https://ppubs.uspto.gov/pubwebapp/static/pages/landing.html and the listing of the certificates of correction, as published in the Official Gazette three weeks later, will be electronically accessible at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/sol/og .
Questions concerning this notice should be directed to Mary Louise McAskill, Manager, Statistical Analysis Division, Office of Patent Publication, by telephone at (703) 305-8263, by facsimile at (703) 305-4372, or by e-mail at marylouise.mcaskill@uspto.gov .
Date: _ July 5, 2001
Stephen G. Kunin
Stephen G. Kunin
Deputy Commissioner
for Patent Examination Policy