Ordering of Patented and Abandoned Provisional and Nonprovisional Application Files

In the examination of an application, it is sometimes

necessary to inspect the application papers of some previously abandoned application

(provisional or nonprovisional) or granted patent. This is always true in the case of

a reissue application and reexamination proceeding.

If the patented or abandoned file is an Image File

Wrapper (IFW) file, examiners can view the application papers from their desktop via

the Patent Examiner’s Toolkit. Patented and abandoned files that are not available in

IFW are stored at the Files Repository. Older files are housed in remote warehouses

located in Maryland and Virginia.

Patented and abandoned files that are stored in paper

are ordered by means of the File Ordering System (FOS). To place such an order, the

system requires the examiner's delivery organization (i.e. art unit), employee

number, and patent number(s) and/or application number(s) of the file(s) that are

needed. After transmission of the request transaction by the examiner, a “response”

screen appears which informs the examiner of the status of the request for each file.

The examiner is informed that the request:

(A) is accepted;

(B) is accepted, but the file is located at a remote

warehouse (in which case delivery time is increased);

(C) is not accepted because the file is not located

at the repository or warehouse;

(D) is not accepted because a previous request for the

file has not yet been filled; or

(E) is not accepted because the patent or application

number inputted is not valid.

Personnel at the Files Repository periodically retrieve

the requested files and deliveries of files are made to the requesters’ interoffice

mailing address. Upon delivery of files at the various locations, Files Repository

personnel also retrieve files that are ready to be returned to the repository.