501 Filing Papers With the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office [R-01.2024]

I. GENERAL MAILING ADDRESSES

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Office) has three separate general mailing addresses. The addresses are as follows:

A. For Patent Applications and Patent-Related Papers

Correspondence in patent-related matters under the direction of the Commissioner for Patents should be addressed to:

Commissioner for Patents
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450

Such correspondence includes: patent applications, replies to notices of informality, requests for extension of time, notices of appeal to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (the Board), briefs in support of an appeal to the Board, requests for oral hearing before the Board, applications for extensions of term of patent, requests for reexamination, requests for supplemental examination, statutory disclaimers, certificates of correction, petitions to the Commissioner for Patents, submission of information disclosure statements, petitions to revive abandoned patent applications, and other correspondence related to patent applications and patents which is processed by organizations reporting to the Commissioner for Patents.

Certain patent-related correspondence requires immediate Office attention. Examples are:

• (A) Petitions for express abandonment to avoid publication under 37 CFR 1.138(c);
• (B) Petitions to withdraw an application from issue under 37 CFR 1.313(c);
• (C) Petitions to defer issuance of patent under 37 CFR 1.314;
• (D) Request for expedited examination of a design application (rocket docket); and
• (E) Certain papers required by the Office of Data Management.

Applicants are encouraged to transmit these types of correspondence by the USPTO patent electronic filing system (see MPEP § 502.05). Where permitted, patent-related correspondence that requires immediate Office attention may also be submitted to the appropriate area of the Office for processing by facsimile transmission (see MPEP § 502.01, subsections I.B and II) or hand-carried (see MPEP § 502), subsection III).

B. For Trademark Applications and Trademark-Related Papers

All trademark-related documents filed on paper, except documents sent to the Assignment Recordation Branch for recordation; requests for copies of trademark documents; and certain documents filed under the Madrid Protocol as specified in 37 CFR 2.190(e), should be addressed to:

Commissioner for Trademarks
P.O. Box 1451
Alexandria, VA 22313-1451.

See 37 CFR 2.190 (reproduced before subsection I, above) for the addresses for filing trademark correspondence with the USPTO on paper and electronically.

C. For Other Correspondence

Patent and trademark documents sent to the Assignment Recordation Branch for recordation (Mail Stop Assignment Recordation Services), requests for certified or uncertified copies of patent and trademark documents (Mail Stop Patent and Trademark Copy Fulfillment Branch), and for correspondence for which an address is not otherwise specified in 37 CFR 1.1 or 2.190, should be addressed to:

Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

It is preferred that requests for certified or uncertified copies of patent and trademark documents be made online through the Certified Copy Center storefront at www.uspto.gov/CertifiedCopyCenter.

II. SEPARATE MAILING ADDRESSES FOR CERTAIN CORRESPONDENCE

The Office has separate mailing addresses for certain correspondence:

• (A) Certain court-related correspondence (e.g., summons and complaint) being delivered to the Office via the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) must be addressed:

General Counsel
United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

• (B) Correspondence directed to the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) Director relating to disciplinary proceedings pending before a Hearing Officer or the Director must be addressed:

Mail Stop 8
Office of the Solicitor
United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450

• (C) Maintenance fee payments not electronically submitted over the Internet and correspondence related to maintenance fees may be addressed to:

Mail Stop Maintenance Fee
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

• (D) A payment to replenish a deposit account may be addressed to:

Mail Stop Deposit Accounts
Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

Persons filing correspondence with the Office should check the rules of practice, the Official Gazette, or the USPTO website (www.uspto.gov) to determine the appropriate mailing address for such correspondence.

III. HAND-DELIVERY OF PAPERS

Patent-related papers may be hand-carried to the Office in Alexandria, VA. Correspondence cannot be hand-carried to the Regional Offices. If the correspondence is hand-carried to the Office, with limited exceptions (see MPEP § 502, subsection III) it must be delivered to:

United States Patent and Trademark Office
Customer Service Window
Knox Building
501 Dulany Street
Alexandria, VA 22314

Trademark-related papers may be filed at the “walk-up” window located in the Trademark Assistance Center, Madison East, Concourse Level, Room C55, 600 Dulany Street, Alexandria, VA 22314.

As provided in 37 CFR 1.4(c), matters that are to be considered by different branches or sections of the USPTO must be contained in separate papers. The following form paragraph may be used to notify the applicant of this requirement when the applicant has filed a single paper containing distinct subjects, inquiries, or orders.

Those who correspond with the USPTO are strongly encouraged not to include correspondence which will have to be directed to different areas (e.g., Patents and Trademarks) of the Office in a single envelope. Including multiple papers in a single envelope increases the likelihood that one or more of the papers will be delayed before reaching the appropriate area. Placing the papers in separately addressed envelopes will reduce the number of actions being performed by the USPTO unnecessarily or inappropriately.

Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.1, non-trademark correspondence intended for the USPTO must be mailed to P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450, except as otherwise provided. Except for certain mail addressed incorrectly to the Office of the General Counsel (see 37 CFR 1.1(a)(3)(v)), there will be no penalty for addressing a document to the wrong area within the Office, as long as one of the approved addresses is used. Use of the specific addresses listed within 37 CFR 1.1 is strongly encouraged because it will facilitate the process both for the Office and the filer. Accordingly, a new application incorrectly addressed to the Director will be treated the same as if the application was addressed to the specific Commissioner.

All mailed communications are received by the Incoming-Mail Section of the Office of Patent Application Processing (OPAP), which opens and processes all official mail.

Special mail stops have been established to allow the forwarding of particular types of correspondence to appropriate areas of the Office as quickly as possible. A list of these mail stops is published weekly in the Official Gazette. Only the specified type of document for a particular mail stop should be placed in an envelope addressed to that mail stop.

If any documents other than the specified type identified for each department are addressed to that department, they will be significantly delayed in reaching the appropriate area for which they were intended.

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