Because of difficulties surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the USPTO announced yesterday that, at least temporarily, it would electronically accept initial applications for Patent Term Extension (PTE) via EFS-Web or the new Patent Center system. This announcement waives the rule against such electronic submissions, which appears as a part of the USPTO’s Legal Framework for Patent Electronic System.

Patent Term Extension (PTE) allows patent owners, often in pharmaceutical and medical device fields, to obtain up to five years of additional patent term to compensate for patent term lost due to regulatory review. For example, if the FDA took time to approve a treatment, even after the patent on that treatment had already issued, then the patent owner may be able to apply for and receive PTE. By applying for PTE, patent owners can broaden their opportunities for recovering investments into human drugs, food or color additives, medical devices, animal drugs, and veterinary biological products.

In allowing for electronic filing, the USPTO has temporarily eased the physical requirements for initial PTE applications, which must typically be filed by physical mail or hand-carried to the USPTO Office of Patent Legal Administration. The USPTO is only allowing patent owners to file initial PTE applications on a temporary basis in view of COVID-19 concerns. However, the announcement also mentions an effort to enable the new Patent Center system to accept initial PTE applications on a permanent basis, as it replaces PAIR and EFS-Web.

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