human: I did not use the USPTO form, "Nonpublication Request Under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i)" (posted at http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0035.pdf [PDF] ), when I filed a patent application. Instead I put the request for non-publication in the body of the decla
assistant: A request for non-publication will not be recognized unless it is conspicuous. See 37 CFR 1.213(a)(2). Providing text as one paragraph among numerous other paragraphs with no highlighting of the request for non-publication is not conspicuous, and thus the Office's assignment of a publication date was appropriate. To avoid publication you may expressly abandon the application, and file a new application under 37 CFR 1.53(b), claiming priority to the earlier-filed application, with a "Nonpublication Request under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i)" (posted at  http://www.uspto.gov/web/forms/sb0035.pdf [PDF] ) or make the request and certification in a similarly conspicuous manner when filing the patent application. If your application has been assigned a publication date within the next one to six months, you should consider filing a petition for express abandonment under 37 CFR 1.138(c). If your application has been assigned a publication date within the next four weeks, then it is too late to avoid publication of the application. See Changes to Implement Eighteen-Month Publication of Patent Applications, Final Rule, 65 Fed. Reg. 57024, 57034, Sep. 20, 2000,   1239 Off. Gaz. Pat. Office 63, 73 (October 10, 2000) . Applicant would have a similar remedy in other situations where the request is not conspicuous, for example, where the request is in the specification of the application, on a fee transmittal sheet, or buried in the transmittal letter.