Representative and Address Provisions

This information collection includes the information necessary to submit a request to grant or revoke power of attorney for an application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, and for a registered practitioner to withdraw as attorney or agent of record. This also includes the information necessary to change the correspondence address for an application, patent, or reexamination proceeding, to request a Customer Number and manage the correspondence address and list of practitioners associated with a Customer Number, and to designate or change the correspondence address or fee address for one or more patents or applications by using a Customer Number. Under 35 U.S.C. 2 and 37 CFR 1.31-1.32, power of attorney may be granted to one or more joint inventors or a person who is registered to practice before the USPTO to act in an application or a patent. In particular, for an application filed before September 16, 2012, or for a patent which issued from an application filed before September 16, 2012, power of attorney may be granted by the applicant for patent (as set forth in 37 CFR 1.41(b) (pre-AIA)) or the assignee of the entire interest of the applicant. For an application filed on or after September 16, 2012, or for a patent which issued from an application filed on or after September 16, 2012, power of attorney may be granted by the applicant for patent (as set forth in 37 CFR 1.42) or the patent owner. The USPTO provides two different versions of the most forms for establishing power of attorney based upon whether the application filing date was filed before or after September 16, 2012 or was filed on or after September 16, 2012. Providing forms based upon whether the application was filed before September 16, 2012 or was filed on or after September 16, 2012 reduces applicants’ burden in having to determine the appropriate power of attorney requirements for a given application. , to thereby reduce applicants’ burden in having to determine the appropriate power of attorney requirements for a given application. 37 CFR 1.36 provides for the revocation of a power of attorney at any stage in the proceedings of a case. 37 CFR 1.36 also provides a path by which a registered patent attorney or patent agent who has been given a power of attorney may withdraw as attorney or agent of record. A Customer Number is a unique number created by the USPTO and is used instead of a physical address. The Customer Number allows a group of filings to be associated with a single correspondence mailing address. The USPTO’s Customer Number practice permits applicants, patent owners, assignees, and practitioners of record, or the representatives of record for a number of applications or patents, to change the correspondence address of a patent application or patent with one change request instead of filing separate requests for each patent or application. Any changes to the address or practitioner information associated with a Customer Number will be applied to all patents and applications associated with said Customer Number. Changes of correspondence address or power of attorney may be filed separately for each patent or application without using a Customer Number. However, a valid Customer Number provides secure access to patent information through the registered USPTO.gov account using the USPTO patent electronic filing system (Patent Center), which is available through the USPTO website. Additionally, the use of a Customer Number is also required in order to grant power of attorney to more than ten practitioners or to establish a separate “fee address” for maintenance fee purposes that is different from the correspondence address for a patent or application.

The latest form for Representative and Address Provisions expires 2028-11-30 and is listed under ICR 202603-0651-002.

Power of Attorney to Prosecute Applications Before the USPTO

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Economic Development - Intellectual Property Protection

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