GUIDELINES FOR OBTAINING AN AUTOMATIC GRANT OF THE

e-PETITION FILED UNDER 37 CFR 1.378(c)

*Updated May 12, 2008*

I. **Filing of a Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of
Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c))**. A person
seeking reinstatement of an expired patent should not make a statement
that the delay in payment of the maintenance fee was unintentional
unless the entire delay was unintentional, including the period from
discovery that the maintenance fee was not timely paid until payment of
the maintenance fee. An explanation of the unintentional delay standard
may be found in [MPEP
2590](http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/2500_2590.htm#sect2590).

1.  This form is intended for use by a registered practitioner, a sole
    inventor, all joint inventors in the application, a joint inventor
    who has and will retain for the enforceable life of the patent the
    written approval to act of behalf of all other joint inventors, a
    sole assignee, or a person empowered to sign on behalf of the
    assignee of the entire interest.

2.  The petition must be filed within twenty-four (24) months after the
    six (6) month grace period provided in 37 CFR 1.362(e).

3.  You MAY NOT obtain the automatic grant of an electronically filed 37
    CFR 1.378(c) petition:

    a.  to reinstate an expired patent that has been reissued, or to
        reinstate an expired reissue;

    b.  if you are an "other party in interest" notwithstanding 37 CFR
        1.378(d);

    c.  if you are a partial assignee or are authorized to act on behalf
        of a partial assignee and are not an attorney or agent
        registered to practice before the United States Patent and
        Trademark Office;

    d.  if you were not associated with the patent at the time of
        expiry; or

    e.  if you wish to include an explanation of the circumstances
        surrounding the delay.

These situations can be addressed, as formerly, by transmitting the
petition and explanation by mail, facsimile, or hand delivery.

4.  Before proceeding further, you must have a credit card, deposit
    account, or banking account that is amenable to electronic funds
    transfer in order to file this e-Petition.

5.  The following information is required to fill out this e-Petition
    for the automatic grant of a petition under 37 CFR 1.378(c):

    a.  the Patent Number;

    b.  the Issue Date of the Patent;

    c.  the Application Number;

    d.  the Filing Date of the Application;

    e.  for an assignee or a person empowered to sign on behalf of an
        assignee, all reel and frame number(s) where the assignment(s)
        have been recorded for the entire chain of title, running from
        the inventors to all successor(s) in title; and

    f.  for a joint inventor acting on behalf of respectively all other
        joint inventor(s), the written approval to act on their behalf.

6.  Entity Status selection determines the choice and amount of the
    Maintenance Fee payment.

    a.  By selecting Small Entity, the patentee currently claims or has
        previously claimed Small Entity status and only Small Entity
        fees can be selected.

    b.  By selecting Loss of Entitlement to Small Entity Status the
        patentee is no longer claiming Small Entity status and only Not
        Small Entity fees can be selected.

    c.  By not selecting either Small Entity or Loss of Entitlement to
        Small Entity Status the patentee currently does not claim Small
        Entity Status and only Not Small Entity fees can be selected.

**Instructions for Petition to Accept Unintentionally Delayed Payment of
Maintenance Fee in an Expired Patent (37 CFR 1.378(c))**

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| ### Contents                     | **Completing the Form**           |
|                                  |                                   |
| 1.  **PDF Fillable Form          | When positioning the cursor on a  |
|     Instructions**               | fillable area or element, the     |
|                                  | cursor will change                |
| \_                               | appearance. The I-beam pointer    |
| \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ | allows you to type text. The hand |
| \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ | pointer allows you to select      |
|                                  | a check box or radio button.      |
| ### Fillable Form Instructions   |                                   |
|                                  | Enter the appropriate data in     |
| **Overview**                     | each box or field. To move from   |
|                                  | one field to the next, press the  |
| EFS-Web fillable PDF forms use   | Tab key. You can also use your    |
| the features provided with Adobe | cursor to move from field to      |
| Acrobat products. There is some  | field. Place your cursor in the   |
| validation of the information    | field you want to fill in, then   |
| you enter; however you are       | left-click.                       |
| responsible for entering all     |                                   |
| required information             | Some fields limit the maximum     |
| (instructions may require some   | number of characters you can      |
| information to be handwritten on | enter and may automatically       |
| the form).                       | advance to the next field.        |
|                                  |                                   |
| **Versioning of the Petition     | For additional help with fillable |
| under 37 CFR 1.378(c) form**     | forms, see the Adobe Reader\'s    |
|                                  | online help information.          |
| e-Filers must use the current    |                                   |
| version of the [Petition under   | ### Tips:                         |
| 37 CFR 1.378(c)                  |                                   |
| form](http://www.                | -   Save a copy of your work to   |
| uspto.gov/ebc/portal/forms.htm). |     avoid loss                    |
|                                  |                                   |
| **Software Requirements**        | -   The USPTO is only accepting   |
|                                  |     certain types of applications |
| To view, complete and print      |     electronically. Visit         |
| USPTO fillable PDF forms you     |     [www.                         |
| will need the free [Adobe        | uspto.gov](http://www.uspto.gov/) |
| Reader                           |     for more details              |
| ](http://www.adobe.com/products/ |                                   |
| acrobat/readstep2.html) software | -   If assistance is required in  |
| installed on your computer.      |     filling out the form or in    |
| Version 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 8.1.1 or   |     submitting in EFS-Web,        |
| 8.1.2 is required.               |     contact the Electronic        |
|                                  |     Business Center at            |
| **Opening the Form**             |     1-866-217-9197.               |
|                                  |                                   |
| Your web browser may be          |                                   |
| configured with an Adobe Reader  |                                   |
| plug-in to automatically open    |                                   |
| the file within your browser\'s  |                                   |
| window upon download. To         |                                   |
| download the file directly to    |                                   |
| disk, right click the form title |                                   |
| link then select \"Save          |                                   |
| Target/Link As\...\" from the    |                                   |
| menu. Use Adobe Reader to open   |                                   |
| the file.                        |                                   |
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