1893.02 Abandonment [R-07.2022]

If the requirements for the submission of the basic national fee and a copy of the international application (if necessary) prior to the expiration of 30 months from the priority date are not satisfied, then the international application becomes abandoned as to the United States. 37 CFR 1.495(h). Should online filing and/or fee payment via the USPTO patent electronic filing system become unavailable due to a system outage, applicant may need to use an alternative filing method such as hand-delivery to the USPTO or the Priority Mail Express® service of the United States Postal Service (USPS) in accordance with 37 CFR 1.10 to meet the requirements of 37 CFR 1.495(b). For more information about filing via the USPTO patent electronic filing system, see the Legal Framework for Patent Electronic System available from www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/filing-online/ legal-framework-efs-web.

If the requirements under 37 CFR 1.495(b) are timely met, but the requirements under 37 CFR 1.495(c) for an English translation of the international application, oath/declaration, search fee, examination fee and application size fee are not met within a time period set in a notice provided by the Office, then the application will become abandoned upon expiration of the time period set in the notice. See 37 CFR 1.495(c)(2).

Examiners and applicants should be aware that sometimes papers filed for the national stage are deficient and abandonment results. For example, if the fee submitted does not include at least the amount of the basic national fee that is due, the application becomes abandoned.

Applicant may file a petition to revive an abandoned application in accordance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.137. See MPEP § 711.03(c). For applicant’s convenience, applicant may use Form PTO/SB/64PCT for this purpose. This form is available online at www.uspto.gov/patent/ patents-forms.