USPTO Offers New Tool to Receive Email Alerts when Patent Applications Publish

Through a partnership with Reed Technology and Information Services, we are pleased to announce the release of the Patent Application Alert Service. This system provides customized, email alerts to the public for free when patent applications of interest are published. Additionally, the system offers direct access to the published applications that meet your search criteria.

After receipt of these customized, email alerts, the public may identify prior art for “pre-issuance” submission into these applications. The pre-issuance submission process was established under the America Invents Act (AIA), and to date, the agency has received more than 2,600 submissions across all technologies. More information on the pre-issuance submission program and how members of the public can participate can be found here.

The idea for the patent application alert service came from a public roundtable held at the USPTO in April 2014 where we solicited input regarding the use of crowdsourcing and pre-issuance submissions to identify relevant prior art. We are excited that this new service is a direct result of our continued stakeholder engagement and that it may be used to enhance the quality of examination and issued patents.