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Responding to Patents that Have Been Listed as Abandoned
BACKGROUND
Per regulations, contractors must provide 60 days' notice if they plan to:
- Not continue the prosecution of a non-provisional patent application
- Not pay a maintenance, annuity, or renewal fee
- Not defend in a reexamination or opposition proceeding on a patent
- Etc. (see regulations for complete list)
The contractors can indicate in iEdison if they are not going to continue prosecution or pay a maintenance fee by changing the Patent Status to "Abandoned/Intent to Abandon." Once this change is made, the agency should indicate the "Patent Final Rights Determination."
To respond to patents that have been listed as "Abandoned," complete the following steps:
- Open the abandoned Patent Report
- Select the Patent Final Rights Determination
- Save the Patent Report
1. Open the abandoned Patent Report
When an organization user has opted to abandon a patent, you will receive an Alert Notification in your dashboard. Click on the Patent Docket number to open the Patent Report.
2. Select the Patent Final Determination Rights
Under the Patent Details panel of the Patent Report, select the Patent Final Determination Rights from the dropdown menu. Options include:
- Abandoned (Select if the government does NOT intend to pursue or maintain the patent)
- Conveyance to Govt. Requested (Select if the government intends to take title to the patent or patent application)
Once you have made your selection, the Patent Final Rights Determination Date will auto-populate with today's date.
Autopopulation via USPTO Integration
For agency convenience, if the USPTO status (through our integration via API with the USPTO) indicates that the application is already abandoned or the patent lapsed, iEdison is programmed to automatically set the "Patent Final Rights Determination" to "Abandoned" for you. In certain circumstances, the federal government may still be able to revive the application or patent, and if you decide to do so, you can change the "Patent Final Rights Determination" in iEdison to "Conveyance to Govt. Requested."
If your agency would like to receive a notification when the "Patent Final Rights Determination" is automatically set as a result of the USPTO status, have an agency administrator ensure that "5800 - A Patent Final Determination Rights status has been automated to reflect USPTO status" is selected as a Notification for your agency under "My Agency Profile."
3. Save the Patent Report
Click the "Save Patent Report" button at the top of the window to record your selection.