1133 Voluntary Publication [R-01.2024]
37 CFR 1.221 Voluntary publication or republication of patent application publication.
- (a) Any request for publication of an application filed before, but pending on, November 29, 2000, and any request for republication of an application previously published under § 1.211, must include a copy of the application in compliance with the USPTO patent electronic filing system requirements and be accompanied by the publication fee set forth in § 1.18(d) and the processing fee set forth in § 1.17(i). If the request does not comply with the requirements of this paragraph or the copy of the application does not comply with the USPTO patent electronic filing system requirements, the Office will not publish the application and will refund the publication fee.
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Utility and plant applications filed before November 29, 2000 will not be published under 35 U.S.C. 122(b). If an applicant wishes the Office to publish a utility or plant application filed before November 29, 2000 under 35 U.S.C. 122(b), applicant may file a request for voluntary publication under 37 CFR 1.221. The application must be pending and the request for voluntary publication must include:
- (A) a copy of the application in compliance with the USPTO patent electronic filing system requirements, e.g., set forth in the Legal Framework for Patent Electronic System;
- (B) the publication fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.18(d); and
- (C) the processing fee set forth in 37 CFR 1.17(i).
If the applicant submits a request that does not meet the USPTO patent electronic filing system requirements, the request will be dismissed. Since the Office does not intend to publish abandoned applications, applications that are recognized by the Office as abandoned will not be published. Thus, if applicant submits a request for a voluntary publication of an application, but the application is later abandoned before the application publishes, the application may not be published even if the Office has accepted the request.
