How to > Forms > How to Complete Fillable PDF Patent Forms

The USPTO is in the process of making the patent forms fillable on your computer.  This means that you can fill out the information required by the form by typing in the information while the form is displayed on your computer monitor.  You will not, however, be able to alter, remove or add to any of the pre-printed text on the patent form.  More patent forms in the PDF fillable format will be posted as they become available.

The fillable forms use the features provided with Acrobat 5.0 (or later) products. Currently, there is no computation, validation or verification of the information you enter, and you are still responsible for entering all required information (some information, such as signatures, are required to be handwritten on the form).

Software Requirements

To view, complete and print fillable forms you will need the freely available Acrobat 5.0 Reader (or later) software installed on your computer.  The Adobe Acrobat 5.0 Reader can be downloaded at  http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.   Acrobat Reader does not allow you to save your completed, or partially completed, forms to a disk or on your computer.  The ability to save completed, or partially completed, forms is available commercially with the Adobe Acrobat 5.0 (or later) product(s).

Completing the Fillable Form

• Download the form by following the instructions on the USPTO Forms page. Your web browser may be configured with an Acrobat plug-in to automatically open the file within your browsers window upon download. To download the file directly to your computer or to a disk, right click on the link, then select "save link as" or "save target as" from the dropdown options. Make a note of the location on your drive and the name of the file being saved so you can locate it later.
• Use Acrobat 5.0 (or later) to open the file.
• Select the hand tool from the Acrobat toolbar menu. You can use the hand tool to move the page around so that you can view all the areas on it.
• Position the hand pointer inside a form field and click. The I-beam pointer allows you to type text. The arrow pointer allows you to select a field, a check box, a radio button, or an item from a list.
• To accept the field change and go to the next field, press Tab or use your mouse to click on the next form field.
• To accept the field change and go to the previous field, press Shift + Tab or use your mouse to click on the previous form field.
• After completing the form, print the fillable form.

Important Notes:

(1) Use your mouse to select an area of the form that is not inside a form field or hit the tab key after completing the entry of your last box before printing your form. If a form field is active (e.g. contains the blinking bar) the contents of that block will not print. 

(2) If the fillable form is displayed within your web browser’s window be sure to use the printer button on the Acrobat toolbar menu to print the form instead of your web browser’s print function.

NOTE: If you experience problems printing PDF forms once you have filled them in, save the data file containing your information to your local drive and contact ReplyPTOForms@uspto.gov for assistance.

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