United States Patent and Trademark Office OG Notices: 18 May 2004
Notice that Lengthy Tables will be
Published Differently in Patents, Statutory Invention
Registrations and Patent Application Publications
And Notice of Pilot Program With Respect to Lengthy Tables
Applications containing tables on more than two hundred
consecutive pages, or large numbers of tables (lengthy tables) cause
significant problems for the United States Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO or Office). For example, lengthy tables submitted only on paper
require greater resources to maintain images of the patent application
as originally filed. In addition, a patent application with lengthy
tables is more expensive for the Office to publish, especially if the
lengthy tables were not submitted in electronic form. In view of the
Office processing problems caused by applications with lengthy tables,
the Office encourages applicants to submit lengthy tables on compact
disc (CD) in ASCII text as provided in 37 CFR 1.52(e), as an appendix
to the specification as provided in 37 CFR 1.77(b)(4). The Office is
also announcing that lengthy tables in an appropriate electronic form
will not be published in patent application publications, patents and
Statutory Invention Registrations (SIRs)(collectively, patent
documents). Instead, the lengthy tables shall be separately published
by posting the lengthy tables on the sequence homepage of the USPTO
Internet web site. In addition, this notice announces a pilot program
for patent document publishing purposes only wherein, in response to an
Office request, applicants may submit lengthy tables in electronic
formats other than ASCII text so the lengthy tables can posted on the
sequence homepage of the USPTO web site instead of being published in
the patent document. If the pilot program is adopted, it will be set
forth in one or more future rule makings.
The Office encourages patent applications to be submitted in
electronic form through the Electronic Filing System (EFS), and for
tables, especially lengthy tables, to be submitted in electronic form
as an appendix to the specification (with the table on CD if EFS is not
used). Lengthy tables should not be embedded in the specification, and
should instead be included as a compact disc appendix as provided in 37
CFR 1.77(b)(4). When a table is submitted on CD instead of on paper,
the specification of the patent application must contain an
incorporation-by-reference of the material on the CD in a separate
paragraph as specified in 37 CFR 1.52(e)(5), which should be before the
background of the invention (see 37 CFR 1.77(b)(4)). If the reference
to a table on CD is placed elsewhere in the specification, the table is
likely to be overlooked in the publication of any patent, patent
application publication or SIR.
If lengthy tables are submitted on a CD as provided in 37 CFR
1.52(e), or pursuant to the pilot program discussed below, then any
patent, patent application publication or SIR will not include the
lengthy tables in the patent document. Instead of being published as
part of the patent document, lengthy tables will be published
separately on the sequence homepage of the USPTO Internet web site
(http://seqdata.uspto.gov) as an XML file. See, for
example, patent application publication nos. US 2003/0235811 A1 and US
2003/0237110 A9.
When the lengthy tables are separately published on the USPTO
Internet web site, there will be a standardized "Lengthy Table"
statement, in the patent document following of the detailed description
(see 37 CFR 1.77(b)(8)). For example, a patent application publication
would contain the following text:
LENGTHY TABLE
The patent application contains a lengthy table section. A copy of the
table is available in electronic form from the USPTO web site
(http://seqdata.uspto.gov/?pageRequest=docDetail&docID=20047654321).
An electronic copy of the table will also be available from the USPTO
upon request and payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(b)(3).
For a patent, the following page-wide text will appear:
The patent contains a lengthy table section. A copy of
the table is available in electronic form from the USPTO web site
(http://seqdata.uspto.gov/?pageRequest=docDetail&docID=7654321B1). An
electronic copy of the table will also be available from the USPTO upon
request and payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(b)(3).
The page-wide "Lengthy Table" statement for a SIR would be
similar and would state:
LENGTHY TABLE
The statutory invention registration contains a lengthy
table section. A copy of the table is available in electronic form from
the USPTO web site
(http://seqdata.uspto.gov/?pageRequest=docDetail&docID=H0009999H1). An
electronic copy of the table will also be available from the USPTO upon
request and payment of the fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.19(b)(3).
If an applicant requires an electronic copy of a table that was
not printed in the document, applicant must download the table from the
USPTO Internet web site, or specifically request and pay for the
electronic copy. Document Services Division may be accessed through
https://www3.uspto.gov/oems25p/, by telephone at (703)
308-9726 or (800) 972-6382, or by facsimile at (703) 308-7048.
Patents, SIRs and patent application publications available on
DLT through subscription will continue to include the lengthy tables.
In general, lengthy tables (and lengthy sequence listings) are
available through two sources: the USPTO Internet web site
(http://seqdata.uspto.gov) (free download), or as part of
the Red Book XML products on DLT (annual subscription). For further
information about the availability of patent information via subscription
or the Web; call (703) 306-2600 or visit www.uspto.gov.
PILOT PROGRAM
If a patent application includes a lengthy table submitted only
on paper (as explained above, a lengthy table is either a table or set
of tables that are located on more than 200 consecutive pages of a
patent application or a large number of tables), the Office is piloting
a program in which the applicant is contacted and requested to supply
the Office with an electronic copy of the lengthy table. If the Office
of Publications is able to obtain the lengthy table in XML or an
electronic format convertible to XML, the lengthy table will be posted
on the sequence homepage of the USPTO Internet web site
(http://seqdata.uspto.gov) instead of including the table
in the published patent document.
If the applicant does not have the lengthy table available in
XML table format, or an electronic format that is convertible to XML
table format, publication processing will continue using the paper
copy. If the lengthy table is available in XML table format or an
electronic format (preferably Word or Excel) that is convertible
to XML table format, applicant will be requested to hand carry or mail
two compact discs or tapes with the lengthy table and a statement that
the lengthy table submitted in electronic form is the same as the
lengthy table previously submitted, as part of the patent application.
The address that must be used is:
Office of Patent Publication
Office of the Director
2231 Crystal Drive
Suite 907
Arlington, VA 22202
(Note that the Alexandria Post Office Box address for the Office
should not be used for these submissions. See Revised Procedures
for Papers Requiring Immediate Attention, 1280 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office
Notices 917 (March 23, 2004))
Although the Office discourages the embedding of a lengthy
table, if an applicant does embed a lengthy table in the specification
of a patent application, the Office will attempt to obtain a
replacement document in electronic form pursuant to the pilot program.
If the embedded lengthy table is replaced by a table in an electronic
format (either XML or a format convertible to XML) in response to a
request, when the patent document is published, the following
single-column statement will be inserted in place of each replaced
table in the document:
LENGTHY TABLE
Lengthy table referenced here. Please refer to the end of the
specification for access instructions.
Note: if an application is filed with a table in an electronic
format (such as Word or Excel) or in a medium (e.g., tape) that
does not comply with 37 CFR 1.52(e) the Office will require that the
table be submitted on paper, or resubmitted in compliance with 37 CFR
1.52(e) (e.g., submitted in ASCII on CD). Thus, applicants should not
voluntarily submit lengthy tables in electronic form unless they are in
compliance with 37 CFR 1.52(e).
Comments are invited in response to this Pilot Program.
Comments may be directed by e- mail to:
Patent.Practice@uspto.gov, or by fax to (703)872-9411
Questions regarding this change in practice should be directed
to Lisa Hobbs, Biotechnology/Chemistry Project Manager, Search and
Information Resources Administration, by telephone at (703) 308-6573,
or by e-mail at lisa.hobbs@uspto.gov, Karin Ferriter,
Senior Legal Advisor, Office of Patent Legal Administration, Office of
the Deputy Commissioner for Patent Examination Policy, by telephone at
(703) 306-3159, or by e-mail at karin.ferriter@uspto.gov,
or Tammy Koontz, Program Manager, Pre-Grant Publication Division,
Office of Patent Publication, by telephone at (703)605-4292, or by
e-mail at Tammy.Koontz@uspto.gov.
April 26, 2004 STEPHEN G. KUNIN
Deputy Commissioner for
Patent Examination Policy