EXPLANATION OF PATENT TERM EXTENSION CALCULATION

• What am I viewing?
• What do I do if I do not agree with the patent term extension determination?
• What do I do if I have a question about the PAIR screen?

     Applicants are viewing the Patent Applicant Information Retrieval (PAIR) screen which displays the calculated extension under 35 U.S.C. § 154(b)(in effect on June 8, 1995) to the term of the patent. All calculations displayed on the PAIR screen are determined by a computer program that uses the information recorded in the Office's automated patent application information system (the Patent Application Location and Monitoring system or PALM). The computer program will determine the amount of adjustment to the term of patent pursuant to 35 U.S.C. § 154(b) and 37 CFR § 1.701. The computer program will perform the Patent Term Extension (PTE) calculations when the Notice of Allowance is mailed.

     The PAIR screen displays a series of entries related to the specific application which is being evaluated to ascertain whether the application will receive an adjustment to the term of the patent.

     The specific entries are as follows:

     (1) APPLICATION FILING DATE. The APPLICATION FILING DATE entry reflects the original filing date of the application and not the date that the application became eligible for extension of the patent term due to examination delay. Applications which are eligible for Patent Term Extension are original applications (including continued prosecution applications), except for design patents, filed on after June 8, 1995 and before May 29, 2000, and patents issued on such applications. See 37 CFR § 1.701. If the application is the national stage of an international application with no CPAs, the filing date should be the international filing date.
     (2) Patent Term Extension (PTE) (days) The PTE entry reflects extension added to the patent term wherein issuance of the patent was delayed due to:

(1) interference proceedings under 35 U.S.C. 135(a); and/or (2) the application being placed under a secrecy order under 35 U.S.C. 181; and/or (3) a successful appellate review by the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences or by a Federal court under patentability and if the patent is not subject to a terminal disclaimer. With respect to an interference proceeding, the PTE value is the number of days calculated by subtracting the date that the interference was declared from the date that the interference was terminated. With respect to a secrecy order, the PTE value is calculated from the sum of the number of days that the application was maintained in a sealed condition under 35 U.S.C. 181 and the number of days beginning on the date of the notification under 37 CFR § 5.3(c) and ending on the date of mailing of he notice of allowance under 37 CFR § 1.311. With respect to appellate review, the PTE value is calculated by taking the date of the final decision and subtracting the later of either the date of the notice of appeal or the three year date (the three year date is calculate by taking the filing date or the earliest effective filing date claimed and adding three years to it).

     If Applicant does not agree with the patent term adjustment determination as shown on the Notice of Allowance which is reflected on the PAIR screen, Applicant may file a petition. See MPEP 2720.

     If the question is concerning how PAIR works contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at (703) 305-3028.

     If questions concerning the values on the PAIR screen contact the Technology Center Customer Center Representative for the patent application.