Internet Law News

USPTO's EFS-Web Electronic Patent Filing System Celebrates Successful First Year

The Department of Commerce's United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that EFS-Web, its Web-based filing system for patent applications, has exceeded the goals set forth for its first year. Most notably, for the first time in USPTO's history, more new patent applications are being filed electronically each week than through the traditional paper application process. In addition, more than 700,000 applications and related documents have been filed using EFS-Web to date.

These milestones were celebrated today in a ceremony at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia, where Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the USPTO Jon Dudas also recognized the patent system users and USPTO staff who made EFS-Web's first year a success. Special guest speakers included representatives from EFS-Web users Motorola and the law firm of Fish & Richardson, as well as independent inventor Michael Gurin.

"EFS-Web has exceeded our expectations for its first year, and is a great step forward in making IP protection easier and more efficient, while improving patent quality," said Under Secretary Dudas. "As corporations, law firms and inventors alike discover the many benefits of filing patent applications electronically, we expect the adoption rate to grow dramatically." Read more at uspto.gov.

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	Did You Know?
	1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (EFOIA) The 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) permits any person to request access to federal agency records or information. Federal agencies are required to disclose records upon receipt of a written request, except for records that are protected from disclosure by nice exemptions or three exclusions in the Act. Persons are also able to request documents in an electronic format under the 1996 Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments (EFOIA).