A key component of EFS-Web is the use of JAVA applets to operate security features. For Registered users, JAVA enables them to login and access their account information online.

• JAVA is a general purpose programming language with a number of features that make the language well suited for use on the Web.
  
• Small JAVA applications are called JAVA applets and can be downloaded from a Web server and run on your computer by a JAVA-enabled Web browser such as Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer.

EFS-WEB requires that you have JAVA or Microsoft VM (Virtual Machine) enabled on your computer. The minimum JAVA version required is the JAVA 2 Platform, Standard Edition 5.0, v 1.5.0_06 (J2SE) JAVA Runtime Environment (JRE).

Computers with a Microsoft operating system (OS) produced prior to 2001 may come with Microsoft JAVA Virtual Machine installed, which will allow you to run all JAVA based components. Computers produced after 2001 will need, if they have not already done so, to download JAVA from the Sun Microsystems site in order to run JAVA applets.

JAVA-enabling a computer should be handled in one of two ways:

• First, if your organization has an IT department, System Administrator or Security Administrator, contact them using your organization’s standard support procedures and request that your computer be JAVA-enabled. The USPTO encourages all EFS-Web users to maintain compliance with their organization’s policies regarding changes to their desktop machines and IT security infrastructure.
  
• If you would like to JAVA-enable your computer yourself, USPTO has tested and validated the following procedures on a Windows-based PC for doing so:

1. Locate the J2SE JRE download page (Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP users):

a. Go to: http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/download.jsp

b. Scroll to “Download JRE 5.0 Update 6 ”

2. You will then have to accept the license agreement.

3. On the Download page, select the “jre-1_5_0_06-windows-i586-p.exe” link.

4. When prompted by the File Download window, select the Open button to begin the
download.

5. Follow the instructions of the installation program, accepting all default options.