Patent Term Extension or Adjustment
                Information Printed on Notice of Allowance and
                      Issue Fee Due and Patent Front Page


   Beginning January 2, 2001, all plant and utility patents will be issued
with an indication of the patent term adjustment on the patent front page.
Design patents are not eligible for patent term adjustment and therefore
will not have a patent term adjustment notice.  Most patents will have an
indication of a zero day patent term adjustment.  The terms "patent term
adjustment" and "patent term extension" are used as generic terms to
include both patent term extension under 35 U.S.C. 154(b), as amended
effective June 8, 1995, and patent term adjustment under 35 U.S.C. 154(b),
as amended effective May 29, 2000.

   Applicant's first indication of the patent term adjustment should be
with the Notice of Allowance and Issue Fee Due (PTOL-85) where the patent
term adjustment information is included on the same line as, and to the
right of, the First Named Applicant. In most instances, the information
is presented as a number of days.  For example:

                      35 USC 154(b) term ext. = 400 Days.

   If the patent is not entitled to a patent term adjustment, the
information will be as follows:

                       35 USC 154(b) term ext. = 0 Days.

   If no patent term adjustment information is printed on the Notice of
Allowance, the application is not eligible for term adjustment.  No patent
term adjustment information being printed on the Notice of Allowance has
the same effect as "35 USC 154(b) ten-n ext. = 0 Days" being printed.
In 2001, more detailed patent term adjustment information will be printed
with the Notice of Allowance and Issue Fee Due.

   On the patent's front page, following the assignee data, or if there is
no assignee data, following the inventor data, the notice will be printed
as in the following example:

      Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
              patent is extended or adjusted under
              35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 1,000 days.

   The patent term adjustment information printed on the face of the patent
will generally be the same as the information that is printed on or with
the Notice of Allowance.  Note that requests for reconsideration of the
patent term adjustment information indicated on the Notice of Allowance
must be filed no later than the payment of the issue fee.

   If the patent is not eligible for term adjustment, the notice will be
printed as in the following example:

      Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
             patent is extended or adjusted under
             35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.

   While the Office intends to begin printing a notice regarding patent
term adjustment on the front page of all patents, if no notice is included
on the patent front page, then the patent term has not been extended or
adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b).

   Petitions, requests or applications for patent term extension or
adjustment under 35 U.S.C. 154 should be sent to Commissioner for Patents,
Box PTA, Washington, D.C. 20231, or taxed to (703) 308-6916.  Applications
for patent term extension under 35 U.S.C. 156 (e.g., for drug products
reviewed by the Food and Drug Administration) should continue to be mailed
to Box Patent Ext.

   Questions regarding this notice may be directed to Daniel Moon, Legal
Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Office of the Deputy
Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, by telephone at (703) 305-0271,
by facsimile at (703) 872-9411, or by e-mail to Daniel.Moon@USPTO.gov.

December 20, 2000                                        NICHOLAS P. GODICI
                                                   Commissioner for Patents