MPEP § 1309 — MPEP § 1309
Current through: 2022-07-01

1309-Issue of Patent 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 Skip over navigation 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 search for patents | search for trademarks 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Search 
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 PATENTS 
 
 Patent Search 

 
 Patent Process 

 
 Patent Classification 

 
 Patent Forms 

 
 Statistics 

 
 Electronic Business Center 

 
 Patent Laws, Regulations, Policies & Procedures 

 
 Resources and Guidance 

 
 Office of Data Management 

 
 Announcements 

 
 Initiatives & Events 

 
 International Protection 

 
 Employee Locator 

 
 Contact Patents 

 

 

 
 TRADEMARKS 
 
 Trademark Search 

 
 Trademarks Process 

 
 News & Notices 

 
 Manuals, Guides, Official Gazette 

 
 Laws & Regulations 

 
 Online Filing 

 
 Contact Trademarks 

 

 

 
 IP LAW & POLICY 
 
 Rulemaking 

 
 IP Policy and Enforcement 

 
 Protecting IP Overseas 

 
 Training and Education 

 
 Training Programs & Conferences 

 
 Office of Governmental Affairs 

 
 Office of Chief Economist 

 
 Boards and Counsel 

 

 

 
 PRODUCTS & SERVICES 
 
 Electronic Data Products 

 
 XML Resources 

 
 XML Resources - Retrospective 

 
 USPTO Contact Center Order Form 

 
 Services 

 
 Locate Libraries 

 
 Training/Events 

 
 Online Services Hub 

 

 

 
 INVENTORS 
 
 Patents for Inventors 

 
 Trademarks for Inventors 

 
 Inventors Assistance 

 
 Education and Information 

 
 Scam Prevention 

 
 Pro Se and Pro Bono 

 
 Current Events 

 
 State Resources 

 
 InventorsEye Newsletter 

 

 

 
 NEWS & NOTICES 
 
 Subscription Center 

 
 Press Releases 

 
 Testimony and Speeches 

 
 Director's Forum 

 
 Systems Status 

 
 Emergency Notices 

 
 USPTO Videos 

 
 Official Gazette 

 
 Federal Register Notices 

 
 Event Calendar 

 

 

 
 FAQs 
 
 Patents FAQs 

 
 Trademarks FAQs 

 
 Assignments 

 
 Security 

 
 Musicians and Artists 

 
 Browser Plugins 

 
 Other Web Resources 

 

 

 
 ABOUT US 
 
 USPTO Leadership 

 
 USPTO Organization 

 
 USPTO Offices 

 
 Careers 

 
 Budget, Performance, and Planning 

 
 Statistics 

 
 Vendor Information 

 
 Public Advisory Committees 

 
 National Medal of Technology and Innovation 

 
 IP in Motion 

 
 Contact Us 

 

 

 
 
 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 Home Page 

 
 Patents 

 
 Patent Laws, Regulations, Policies & Procedures 

 
 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 1300 

 Section 1309 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 1309 Issue of Patent [R-01.2024]

 Electronic capture of most of the information to be printed in a patent
 will begin as soon as an electronic message concerning the allowed application is received
 in the Office of Data Management, immediately after the Notice of Allowance has been
 mailed. The application is then electronically exported to Initial Data Capture (IDC) for
 electronic capture of the patent filed. Upon IDC completion, an electronic message is then
 sent to the File Maintenance Facility (FMF) to ensure that all post allowance
 correspondence, fees and drawings have been updated. The application may stay in FMF or
 until all post-allowance requirements are met. 
 

 When the issue fee is paid and all other requirements have been met (e.g.,
 drawings) for issuance as a patent, the application is then electronically exported to the
 Final Data Capture (FDC) stage. The FDC makes any updates necessary to the electronic file
 and places the allowed patent application in an issued status. Issue Notifications will be
 available electronically via the USPTO patent electronic filing system after the payment of
 the issue fee, usually on the Wednesday or Thursday before the patent issues. For those
 applicants who participate in the e-Office action program, the USPTO will email
 notification of the Issue Notification to the applicant's designated email address. For
 those who do not participate in the e-Office action program, the USPTO will send a mailed
 Issue Notification prior to the issue date of the patent. However, the USPTO foresees the
 possibility that a patent may issue electronically before the applicant receives a mailed
 Issue Notification.
 

 All allowed applications ready for issuance will be selected
 by chronological sequence based on the date the issue fee was paid. Special handling will
 be given to the following applications in these categories:
 

 
 (A) Allowed cases which were made special by the Director.

 (B) Allowed cases that have an earliest claimed priority date more than
 5 years old.
 

 (C) Allowed reissue applications.

 (D) Allowed applications having an earliest claimed priority date
 earlier than that required for declaring an interference with a copending application
 claiming the same subject matter.
 

 (E) Allowed application of a party involved in a terminated
 interference.
 

 
 Effective April 18, 2023, the Office implemented electronic
 patent issuance. The electronic publication process results in electronic patent issuance
 under the USPTO seal including the Director’s digital signature shortly after the patent
 number and issue date are assigned. Patentees are able to view and print their
 electronically issued patents (including their cover sheets) through the USPTO patent
 electronic filing system. Electronic patent grants are available in both the public and
 private views of the USPTO patent electronic filing system on the issue date.
 

 Electronically issued patents are considered printed
 patents. See 37 CFR
 1.9(k) and MPEP § 2128 , subsection II. 
 

 For information regarding the correction of an issued patent
 see MPEP Chapter
 1400 . 
 

 

 
 35 U.S.C. 2 
 Powers and duties. 

 *****

 
 (b) SPECIFIC POWERS.— The Office— 
 
 (1) shall adopt and use a seal of the Office, which shall be
 judicially noticed and with which letters patent, certificates of trademark
 registrations, and papers issued by the Office shall be authenticated;
 

 
 

 
 *****

 

 
 35 U.S.C. 153 
 How issued. 

 Patents shall be issued in the name of the United States of America,
 under the seal of the Patent and Trademark Office, and shall be signed by the Director
 or have his signature placed thereon and shall be recorded in the Patent and Trademark
 Office.
 

 
 I. PRINTING NAMES OF PRACTITIONERS AND FIRM ON PATENTS The Fee(s) Transmittal form (PTOL-85B) provides a space (item 2) for
 the person submitting the base issue fee to indicate, for printing, (1) the names of up
 to three registered patent attorneys or agents or, alternatively, (2) the name of a
 single firm, which has as a member at least one registered patent attorney or agent, and
 the names of up to two registered patent attorneys or agents. If the person submitting
 the issue fee desires that no name of practitioner or firm be printed on the patent, the
 space on the Fee(s) Transmittal form should be left blank. If no name is listed on the
 form, no name will be printed on the patent.
 

 II. ASSIGNMENT PRINTED ON PATENT The Fee(s) Transmittal form (PTOL -85B) provides a space (item 3) for
 assignment data which should be completed in order to comply with 37 CFR 3.81 . The
 Office does not look to the assignment record to determine the name of the assignee to
 be printed on the front of the patent. Therefore, unless an assignee’s name and address
 are identified in item 3 of the Fee(s) Transmittal form PTOL-85B, the patent will issue
 to the applicant. Assignment data printed on the patent will be based solely on the
 information so supplied. See MPEP § 307 . Recording of the
 assignment, or submission of the assignment for recordation as set forth in
 37 CFR
 3.11 is required for a Patent to issue to an assignee. See
 37 CFR
 3.81(a) .
 

 III. ASSIGNEE NAMES Only the first appearing name of an assignee will be printed on the
 patent where multiple names for the same party are identified on the
 Fee(s) Transmittal form, PTOL-85B. Such multiple names may occur when both a legal name
 and an “also known as” or “doing business as” name is also included. This printing
 practice will not, however, affect the practice of recording assignments with the
 Assignment Recordation Branch. The assignee entry on form PTOL-85B should still be
 completed to indicate the assignment data as recorded in the Office. For example, the
 assignment filed in the Office and therefore the PTOL-85B assignee entry might read
 “Smith Company doing business as (d.b.a.) Jones Company.” The assignee entry on the
 printed patent will read “Smith Company.” Providing assignee information on the form
 PTOL-85B will result in identification of the assignee in the assignee field of the
 issued patent, but will not affect any change in the applicant of record. If the
 assignee is not the applicant of record, then an appropriate request under
 37 CFR
 1.46(c) must be filed before or with the payment of the issue fee
 for the patent to reflect the assignee as both the applicant and the assignee.
 

 IV. COVER SHEET OF ELECTRONIC PATENT
 GRANT The electronic patent grant cover sheet is nearly
 identical in appearance to the cover sheets previously used for paper patents, except
 that the seal and Director’s signature are in digital form. Importantly, the digital
 seal and electronic signature of the Director on the electronic patent grant cover sheet
 are in conformance with 35 U.S.C. 153 , which requires that
 patents be issued "under the seal of the Patent and Trademark Office, and shall be
 signed by the Director or have [her or] his signature placed thereon and shall be
 recorded in the Patent and Trademark Office." The new seal is an official USPTO seal in
 digital form that serves to authenticate the patent, in conformance with
 35 U.S.C.
 2(b)(1) . An encrypted digital signature that may be used to
 validate the electronic patent document as the issued patent is embedded within the
 seal.
 

 
 1309.01 [Reserved]

 

 

 
 1309.02 “Printer Rush” Cases [R-01.2024]

 A printer rush occurs when document(s) need to be addressed after a
 patent application has been allowed. The file is returned to the examiner, a "Printer
 Rush" form is included in the file wrapper and is indicated with a "RUSH" document code,
 noting the issue. Issues which may prevent publication until they are resolved include
 but are not limited to: amendments under 37 CFR 1.312 , a Request for
 Correction of Inventorship under 37 CFR 1.48 and Information Disclosure
 Statements which have not been initialed by the examiner. 
 

 These applications are placed on the examiner's "expedited" tab in
 Docket Application Viewer (DAV) and should be taken up for immediate action. The
 examiner annotates the "RUSH" document in Adobe to indicate the course of action taken
 to correct the issue or an indication as to why the application is considered to be
 correct as it stands. If correction requires the mailing of an Office Action, such as an
 examiner's amendment, Corrected Notice of Allowance, or a Response to Rule 312
 Communication (form PTO-271) the annotated "RUSH" document is included in the eRedFolder
 (ERF) of the Office Action. A Corrected Notice of Allowance is used when correction of
 the issue requires the mailing of any document to the applicant besides a Response to
 Rule 312 Communication or those related to a Quick Path IDS. If correction does not
 require mailing of an Office Action, the examiner creates an action entitled "Printer
 Rush - No mailing" and imports the "RUSH" document along with any other required forms
 into the action. The annotated "RUSH" form is scanned into the file wrapper and will not
 be mailed to the applicant in either circumstance.
 

 

 [top] 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 1301-Substantially Allowable Application, Special 

 1302-Preparation of an Application for Allowance 
 1302.01-General Review of Disclosure 

 1302.02-Requirement for a Rewritten Specification 

 1302.03-Notice of Allowability 

 1302.04-Examiner’s Amendments and Changes 
 1302.04(a)-Title of Invention 

 1302.04(b)-[Reserved] 

 1302.04(c)-Cancellation of Claims to Nonelected Invention 

 1302.04(d)-Cancellation of Claim Lost in Interference 

 1302.04(e)-Cancellation of Rejected Claims Following Appeal 

 1302.04(f)-[Reserved] 

 1302.04(g)-Identification of Claims 

 1302.04(h)-Rejoinder of Claims 

 
 

 1302.05-Correction of Drawing 

 1302.06-Prior Foreign Application 

 1302.07-[Reserved] 

 1302.08-Interference Search 

 1302.09-Classification, Print Figure, and Other Notations 

 1302.10-Issue Classification Notations 

 1302.11-[Reserved] 

 1302.12-Listing of References 

 1302.13-Signing 

 1302.14-Reasons for Allowance 

 
 

 1303-Notice of Allowance 
 1303.01-Amendment Received After Allowance 

 1303.02-Undelivered 

 1303.03-Not Withheld Due to Death of Inventor 

 
 

 1304-Amendments After D-10 Notice 
 1304.01-Withholding From Issue of “Secrecy Order” Applications 

 
 

 1305-Jurisdiction 

 1306-Issue Fee 
 1306.01-Deferring Issuance of a Patent 

 1306.02-Simultaneous Issuance of Patents 

 1306.03-Practice After Payment of Issue Fee; Receipt of Issue Notification 

 
 

 1307-[Reserved] 

 1308-Withdrawal From Issue 
 1308.01-Rejection After Allowance 

 1308.02-For Interference or Derivation Purposes 

 1308.03-Quality Review for Examined Patent Applications 

 
 

 1309-Issue of Patent 
 1309.01-[Reserved] 

 1309.02-“Printer Rush” Cases 

 
 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
 Accessibility 

 Privacy Policy 

 Terms of Use 

 Security 

 Emergencies/Security Alerts 

 Information Quality Guidelines 

 
 

 
 
 Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act 

 Notification and Federal Employee Antidiscrimination and Retaliation (NoFEAR) Act 

 Budget & Performance 

 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 

 
 

 
 
 Department of Commerce NoFEAR Act Report 

 Regulations.gov 

 STOP!Fakes.gov 

 Department of Commerce 

 USA.gov 

 
 

 
 
 Strategy Targeting Organized Piracy (STOP!) 

 Careers 

 Site Index 

 Contact Us 

 Submit Feedback 

 
 

 
 This page is owned by Patents.

 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:49:26