On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) began issuing electronic patent grants (eGrants), enabling both patent owners and the public to view and print issued patents immediately upon issuance via Patent Center. Since the transition, we have issued over 200,000 eGrants.
As part of the USPTO’s continued efforts to streamline our processes, beginning on January 30, 2024, we will start issuing certificates of correction for patents electronically. This will permit issued certificates of correction to be viewable and printable by both patent owners and the public immediately upon issuance via Patent Center, similar to eGrants.
Currently, a certificate of correction is issued in paper and mailed to the correspondence address of record. Upon issuance of a paper certificate of a correction, an image of the certificate of correction is entered into the file wrapper and added to the image of the patent in the patent database. Additionally, patents subject to a certificate of correction are posted in the Official Gazette.
All certificates of correction for patents issued on or after January 30, 2024, will be issued electronically, regardless of whether the patent was issued on paper or electronically. Procedural aspects of requesting certificates of correction and the standards for granting the requests will not change.
If you have questions pertaining to this upcoming change, please call 571-270-0238 or email PatentPractice@uspto.gov.