DOCX Submission Requirements

As specified in §1.16(u), the fee is due for any application filed under 35 U.S.C. 111 for an original patent—except design, plant, or provisional applications—where the specification, claims, and/or abstract do not conform to the USPTO requirements for submission in the DOCX format. Therefore, the fee is due for nonprovisional utility applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 111, including continuing applications, that are not filed in the DOCX format. The items in this new information collection relate solely to the impacts of the § 1.16(u) non-DOCX filing surcharge fee on the filing of nonprovisional utility applications under 35 U.S.C. 111, including continuing applications. In particular, this new information collection accounts for the § 1.16(u) non-DOCX filing surcharge fee itself, as well as an additional 30 minutes of time to accommodate (i) the extra review that some respondents may undertake as they start to become more familiar with the DOCX format and (ii) submission of the back-up applicant-generated PDF that some respondents will opt to submit. The estimated volumes for the items in this new information collection are based on the estimates for the corresponding nonprovisional utility applications filed under 35 U.S.C. 111, including continuing applications, that are covered under an existing OMB clearance (0651-0032; Initial Patent Applications). Respondents for the items in the new information collection will either take an extra 30 minutes to file their applications in DOCX format or they will pay the non-DOCX surcharge, they will not do both.

The latest form for DOCX Submission Requirements expires 2026-12-31 and can be found here.

DOCX submission of Original New Utility Applications (Private Sector)

Federal Enterprise Architecture: Economic Development - Intellectual Property Protection