What is USPTO Office Action?
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has the authority to give patent grants in the United States. USPTO Office Action is a response of the USPTO which gives the applicant a direction to make or not make changes in the patent application. The office action updates the applicant about his application. It gives detailed information about the claims and to make changes in the application.
The office action is received after almost 15 months from the date of filing the patent application. There may be changes related to the prior-art when the patent examiner discovers the prior-art which is similar to your claim. The applicant has to respond to the USPTO’s office action as per the content for amendment received in it.
Types of USPTO Office Action
The office action is not necessarily a piece of bad news or should be replied to. There are various types of office actions:
Office Action
It is a response from the patent examiner. It is very important to reply to each point of office action. The unseen response can lead to further office action or abandonment of the application. It tells the applicant to make all the necessary changes in the application. The applicant has to reply to these responses within 6 months from the date of receiving the USPTO’s office action.
Notice
It is mailed by the patent examiner to cover up the little deficiencies that remained in the patent application. The applicant has to reply to this notice within two months period.
Notice of Allowability
The patent examiner mails the “Notice of Allowability” when he is sure that the claims in the patent application are valid and there’s no hindrance in granting the patent. The examiner issues “Notice of Allowance” and also gives information related to any unpaid fees.
So, the response to these office actions has to be given in time to avoid any rejection or unnecessary fee hike.
Ways to Respond to USPTO’s Office Actions
There are various ways to respond to office action and the most suitable way can be adopted by the applicant to avoid any type of problem.
Through online
You can reply to an office action online through USPTO’s Electronic Filing System – Web (EFS-W). Only the registered members of USPTO’s EFS-Web can submit their reply electronically through this system.
Through mail
You can submit the response through mail on United States Postal Service. It is a quick and easy way to reply to a USPTO office action.
Through Fax
The applicant can submit a response by sharing a copy of the response through fax which is an easy way to transfer the data. It is always beneficial to keep a copy of a response to oneself, to avoid any rush in case of losing the response by the office or by yourself.
By hand-carrying to USPTO
The applicant can share the response with USPTO by hand-carrying to the customer care service window.
Overview
Replying to an office action should be precise and it should carry all the claims of the office action. Therefore, we require expert services who can revert on each point to clarify the examiner. We provide the service of assisting you at each point as Your Patent Team. We have a team of 325+ experts. YPT has gained the trust of industries, individuals, startups, and associations. We help our customers in providing various IP services. We strive to provide a better return at a lesser cost to our customers. You can know more about our services and also contact us to get the best result and attain patents successfully.
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