Online Patent & Trademark Info in the USA

When I file a patent or a trademark, I invariably do so using the USPatent & Trademark Office's online filing systems. The Office encourages this by giving my clients a break on filing fees because I filed electronically, which is good.

The Trademark filing system is actually quite straightforward; I simply click on the Trademarks link, then click on File Online and select the form I need to file and I'm off and running.

The Patent filing system -- PAIR -- comes in two flavors, private and public. Public PAIR puts on the internet, available for all to see, the prosecution history of all published applications and issued patents. You can view your application in Public PAIR by visiting the Public PAIR portal, clicking on the Public PAIR link and entering at least one of the requested bits of information about the patent or application in one of the appropriate fields and click on SUBMIT.

You can retrieve prosecution history for both patents and trademarks in Public PAIR.

Happy searching!

Nancy