eGRANTS---they solve delays by streamlining applications.
Thurlow and Zawalski 23 [Peter G. Thurlow. Medical Devices & Mechanical Engineering Patent Prosecution Chair. Michael E. Zawalski. Associate. May 08, 2023. “USPTO’s New Electronic Grant System Shortens the Time to File Continuing Applications”. https://www.polsinelli.com/publications/usptos-new-electronic-grant-system-shortens-the-time-to-file-continuing-applications.] BP/Wally
On April 18, 2023, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) updated the patent grant system to an electronic patent grant (“eGrant”) system. Previously, the USPTO issued patent grants to patent applicants via mail. In the mail system, applicants would typically receive their grant about two to four weeks after paying the issue fee for the patent. Soon, applicants will only have about a week from payment of the issue fee to file a continuing application.
Under the eGrant system, patents now issue electronically through the USPTO’s electronic patent application filing and management system (“Patent Center”). The eGrant system was put into place to reduce paper waste, permit issued patents to be viewable and printable by applicants and the public immediately upon issuance, and expediate the grant process.
Once an applicant receives a notice of allowance, the applicant has three months to pay an issue fee.1 After the issue fee is paid, the applicant receives an issue notification indicating to the applicant when the patent will issue. Under the mail grant system, the issue notification was sent about two to three weeks before the patent issued.2
This timeline is of great importance to applicants who wish to file continuing applications (e.g., continuation, divisional, and continuation-in-part applications) based on their allowed patents. A continuing application must be filed before the patent the continuing application claims benefit to is issued.3
With the new eGrant system, the time period between paying the issue fee and the patent issuing will shorten, thereby reducing the amount of time an applicant has to file a continuing application. Under the eGrant system, the USPTO plans to post an issue notification to Patent Center on the Wednesday or Thursday following the payment of the issue fee, and the patent will be issued the following Tuesday.4 Therefore, the period between payment of the issue fee and the grant of the patent will shorten from about two to four weeks down to the Tuesday following the posting of an issue notification.5