MPEP § 102 — MPEP § 102
Current through: 2022-07-01

102-Information as to Status of an Application 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 0100 

 Section 102 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 102 Information as to Status of an Application [R-07.2022]

 
 37 CFR 1.14 Patent applications preserved in confidence. 

 
 (a) Confidentiality of patent application information. Patent
 applications that have not been published under 35 U.S.C.
 122(b) are generally preserved in confidence pursuant to
 35 U.S.C.
 122(a) . Information concerning the filing, pendency, or
 subject matter of an application for patent, including status information, and
 access to the application, will only be given to the public as set forth in §
 1.11 or in this section.
 
 (1) Records associated with patent applications (see paragraph (g)
 of this section for international applications and paragraph (j) of this
 section for international design applications) may be available in the
 following situations:
 
 (i) Patented applications and statutory invention
 registrations. The file of an application that has issued
 as a patent or published as a statutory invention registration is
 available to the public as set forth in § 1.11(a) . A copy of the patent
 application-as-filed, the file contents of the application, or a
 specific document in the file of such an application may be provided
 upon request and payment of the appropriate fee set forth in §
 1.19(b) . 
 

 (ii) Published abandoned applications. The file of an
 abandoned published application is available to the public as set
 forth in § 1.11(a) . A copy
 of the application-as-filed, the file contents of the published
 application, or a specific document in the file of the published
 application may be provided to any person upon request and payment of
 the appropriate fee set forth in § 1.19(b) .
 

 (iii) Published pending applications. A copy of the
 application-as-filed, the file contents of the application, or a
 specific document in the file of a pending published application may
 be provided to any person upon request and payment of the appropriate
 fee set forth in § 1.19(b) . If a
 redacted copy of the application was used for the patent application
 publication, the copy of the specification, drawings, and papers may
 be limited to a redacted copy. The Office will not provide access to
 the paper file of a pending application that has been published,
 except as provided in paragraph (c) or (i) of this section. 
 

 (iv) Unpublished abandoned applications (including provisional
 applications) that are identified or relied upon. The
 file contents of an unpublished, abandoned application may be made
 available to the public if the application is identified in a U.S.
 patent, a statutory invention registration, a U.S. patent application
 publication, an international publication of an international
 application under PCT Article 21(2) 
 , or a publication of an international registration under Hague
 Agreement Article 10(3) of an international design application
 designating the United States. An application is considered to have
 been identified in a document, such as a patent, when the application
 number or serial number and filing date, first named inventor, title,
 and filing date or other application specific information are provided
 in the text of the patent, but not when the same identification is
 made in a paper in the file contents of the patent and is not included
 in the printed patent. Also, the file contents may be made available
 to the public, upon a written request, if benefit of the abandoned
 application is claimed under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) 
 , 120 ,
 121 ,
 365(c) , or 386(c) in an application that has issued as a
 U.S. patent, or has published as a statutory invention registration, a
 U.S. patent application publication, an international publication of
 an international application under PCT Article 21(2) ,
 or a publication of an international registration under Hague
 Agreement Article 10(3). A copy of the application-as-filed, the file
 contents of the application, or a specific document in the file of the
 application may be provided to any person upon written request and
 payment of the appropriate fee (§ 1.19(b) ).
 

 (v) Unpublished pending applications (including provisional
 applications) whose benefit is claimed. A copy of the
 file contents of an unpublished pending application may be provided to
 any person, upon written request and payment of the appropriate fee (§
 1.19(b) ), if the benefit of the application is
 claimed under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) ,
 120 ,
 121 ,
 365(c) , or 386(c) in an application that has issued as a
 U.S. patent, or in an application that has published as a statutory
 invention registration, a U.S. patent application publication, an
 international publication of an international application under
 PCT Article 21(2) , or a publication of an
 international registration under Hague Agreement Article 10(3). A copy
 of the application-as-filed or a specific document in the file of the
 pending application may also be provided to any person upon written
 request and payment of the appropriate fee (§ 1.19(b) ). The Office will not provide access to
 the paper file of a pending application, except as provided in
 paragraph (c) or (i) of this section. 
 

 (vi) Unpublished pending applications (including provisional
 applications) that are incorporated by reference or otherwise
 identified. A copy of the application as originally filed
 of an unpublished pending application may be provided to any person,
 upon written request and payment of the appropriate fee (§
 1.19(b) ), if the application is incorporated by
 reference or otherwise identified in a U.S. patent, a statutory
 invention registration, a U.S. patent application publication, an
 international publication of an international application under
 PCT Article 21(2) , or a publication of an
 international registration under Hague Agreement Article 10(3) of an
 international design application designating the United States. The
 Office will not provide access to the paper file of a pending
 application, except as provided in paragraph (c) or (i) of this
 section. 
 

 (vii) When a petition for access or a power to inspect is
 required. Applications that were not published or
 patented, that are not the subject of a benefit claim under
 35 U.S.C. 119(e) , 120 , 121 ,
 365(c) , or 386(c) in an application that has issued as a
 U.S. patent, an application that has published as a statutory
 invention registration, a U.S. patent application publication, an
 international publication of an international application under
 PCT Article 21(2) , or a publication of an
 international registration under Hague Agreement Article 10(3), or are
 not identified in a U.S. patent, a statutory invention registration, a
 U.S. patent application publication, an international publication of
 an international application under PCT Article 21(2) 
 , or a publication of an international registration under Hague
 Agreement Article 10(3) of an international design application
 designating the United States, are not available to the public. If an
 application is identified in the file contents of another application,
 but not the published patent application or patent itself, a granted
 petition for access (see paragraph (i)) or a power to inspect (see
 paragraph (c) of this section) is necessary to obtain the application,
 or a copy of the application.
 

 
 

 (2) Information concerning a patent application may be
 communicated to the public if the patent application is identified in a
 published patent document or in an application as set forth in paragraphs
 (a)(1)(i) through (a)(1)(vi) of this section. The information that may be
 communicated to the public ( i.e., status information)
 includes:
 
 (i) Whether the application is pending, abandoned, or
 patented;
 

 (ii) Whether the application has been published under
 35 U.S.C. 122(b) ;
 

 (iii) The application “numerical identifier” which may be: 
 
 (A) The eight-digit application number (the two-digit
 series code plus the six-digit serial number); or 
 

 (B) The six-digit serial number plus any one of the
 filing date of the national application, the international
 filing date, or date of entry into the national stage; and 
 

 
 

 (iv) Whether another application claims the benefit of the
 application ( i.e., whether there are any
 applications that claim the benefit of the filing date under
 35 U.S.C. 119(e) , 120 , 121 ,
 365 , or 386 of the application), and if there are any
 such applications, the numerical identifier of the application, the
 specified relationship between the applications
 ( e.g., continuation), whether the application is
 pending, abandoned or patented, and whether the application has been
 published under 35 U.S.C.
 122(b) .
 

 
 

 
 

 
 *****

 

 

 Status information of an application means only the following information: 

 
 (A) whether the application is pending, abandoned, or patented; 

 (B) whether the application has been published; 

 (C) the application number or the serial number plus any one of the filing
 date of the national application, the international filing date or the date of entry
 into the national stage; and
 

 (D) whether another application claims the benefit of the application
 (i.e., whether there are any applications that claim the benefit of the filing date
 under 35 U.S.C.
 119(e) , 120 , 121 ,
 365 , or 386 of the application), and if
 there are any such applications, status information therefor as set forth in
 37 CFR
 1.14(a)(2)(iv) .
 

 
 A requester seeking status information regarding an application should check
 Patent Center or Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) on the USPTO
 website at www.uspto.gov . Alternatively, an authorized requester may contact the
 Application Assistance Unit (AAU) for applications in pre-examination or post-examination
 processing via email at HelpAAU@uspto.gov; phone at 571-272-4000 or toll free at
 888-786-0101 (Hours: Weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET); or at www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/
 support-centers/application-assistance-unit-aau (see
 MPEP §
 1730 ). If the application has not been published, but is pending
 or abandoned then the AAU will determine whether the requester is:
 

 
 (1) the applicant;

 (2) a patent practitioner of record;

 (3) the assignee or an assignee of an undivided part interest;

 (4) the inventor or a joint inventor; or

 (5) a registered attorney or agent named in the papers accompanying the
 application papers filed under 37 CFR 1.53 or the national stage
 documents filed under 37 CFR 1.495 , if a power of
 attorney has not been appointed under 37 CFR 1.32 .
 

 
 If the requester is any of (1) - (5) as set forth above, or if the
 application contains written authority granting access to the requester signed by any of
 (1) - (5) as set forth above, then the requester is entitled to status information. See
 37 CFR
 1.14(c) and MPEP § 104 for additional information
 pertaining to who can provide written authority granting access to such information. If the
 requester is inquiring about whether a reply was received or when an Office action can be
 expected, the requester should be directed to call the Technology Center (TC) to which the
 application is assigned. The assignment of an application to a TC can be determined from
 Patent Data Portal. If the requester is not any of (1) - (5) or a person with written
 authority from any of (1) - (5) as set forth above, the requester may utilize Patent Center
 to obtain status information. 
 

 Furthermore, if the requester is not any of (1) - (5) or a person with
 written authority from any of (1) - (5) as set forth above, but the application is a
 national stage application or any application claiming the benefit of the filing date of a
 published international application and the United States of America has been indicated as
 a Designated State in the international application, pursuant to 37 CFR
 1.14(a)(2)(iv) , the requester is entitled to status information for
 the national stage application as well as any application claiming the benefit of the
 filing date of the published international application. A copy of the first page of the
 published international application or of the corresponding page of the PCT Gazette must be
 supplied with the status request. The status request should be made in writing to the
 International Patent Legal Administration (see MPEP § 1730 ). Alternatively, inquiries
 relating to applications claiming the benefit of the filing date of a published
 international application may be directed to the PCT Help desk. Only the serial number and
 filing date, or application number, as well as whether the application is pending,
 abandoned, or patented may be given for the national stage application and for any
 applications claiming the benefit of the filing date of the referenced published
 international application. Other information contained on the continuity data screen, such
 as whether the application is a CIP, continuation or divisional application, the date of
 abandonment of the application and issue date may be confidential information and should
 not be communicated. 
 

 If the requester is not any of (1) - (5) or a person with
 written authority from any of (1) - (5) as set forth above, but the application is an
 international design application maintained by the Office in its capacity as a designated
 office ( 37 CFR
 1.1003 ) for national processing, pursuant to 37 CFR
 1.14(a)(2)(iv) , the requester is entitled to status information for
 the international design application as well as any application claiming the benefit of the
 filing date of the published international design application. With respect to an
 international design application maintained by the Office in its capacity as an office of
 indirect filing ( 37 CFR 1.1002 ), status information may
 be made available where contained in the file of the international design application
 maintained by the Office for national processing. 
 

 STATUS LOCATION INFORMATION FOR OFFICE PERSONNEL When it is desired to determine the current location or status of an
 application, Office personnel should use Patent Data Portal. If the application is an
 Image File Wrapper (IFW) application, no location is associated with the file. 
 

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 101-General 

 102-Information as to Status of an Application 

 103-Right of Public To Inspect Patent Files and Some Application Files 

 104-Power to Inspect Application 

 105-Suspended or Excluded Practitioner Cannot Inspect 

 106-Control of Inspection by Assignee 
 106.01-Rights of Assignee of Part Interest 

 
 

 107‑109-[Reserved] 

 110-Confidential Nature of International Applications 

 111‑114-[Reserved] 

 115-Review of Applications for National Security and Property Rights Issues 

 116‑119-[Reserved] 

 120-Secrecy Orders 

 121-Handling of Applications under Secrecy Order and/or Bearing National Security Markings 

 122‑129-[Reserved] 

 130-Examination of Secrecy Order Cases 

 131‑139-[Reserved] 

 140-Foreign Filing Licenses 

 141‑149-[Reserved] 

 150-Statements to DOE and NASA 

 151-Content of the Statements 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:50:32