The USPTO Web Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

United States Patent and Trademark Office

POLICY

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Policy > Privacy Policy

Thank you for visiting the United States Patent and Trademark Office website
and reviewing our privacy policy. Our privacy policy is simple: we collect no
personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose
to provide that information to us.

Protect Yourself
Against Identity Theft!

Submitting personal information is voluntary. When you voluntarily submit
information, it constitutes your consent to the use of the information for the
purpose(s) stated at the time of collection. See the Privacy Act of 1974 (P.
L. 93-579) for more information on your rights under the Privacy Act.

When filing documentation in
support of applications or
petitions, please take steps to
protect all personal
information. “Personal
information” includes social
security, credit card and
banking account numbers.
This type of personal data
is never required by the
USPTO to support a petition
or application.

For the protection of users of our Web sites, we have safeguards in place to
identify and prevent unauthorized attempts to access or cause harm to
information and systems.
Here is how we handle information about your visit to our website:

To Our USPTO Customers:

Information Collected and Stored Automatically
The USPTO web server collects and saves only the default
information customarily logged by World-Wide Web server
software. Specifically, for each http request received, the date
and time, the originating IP address, the object requested,
and the completion status of the request is collected and
saved.
We analyze these logs monthly to determine the traffic through
the server during that month in hits, the number of pages
served, and the level of demand for pages of interest during
each month. We may also analyze accesses to particular
pages to determine US versus non-US use, government
agency versus private use, and other statistics that may be of
value to us in establishing priorities and allocating resources in
order to better accomplish our dissemination mission.
E-mail submitted to USPTO is saved in accordance to Department of
Commerce policy and NARA guidelines. If you choose to provide us with
personal information in e-mail, we use that information to respond to your
message and to help us get you the information you have requested. We do
not collect personal information for any purpose other than to respond to you.
We only share the information you give us with another government agency if
your inquiry relates to that agency, or as otherwise required by law. Moreover,
we do not store any personal information independent of the e-mail message,
http://www.uspto.gov/web/doc/privact.htm (1 of 3)11/26/2007 6:26:11 PM

To protect your privacy, we
suggest that you delete such
information from any
documentation you send the
office. Alternatively, you may
request that the submissions
be kept out of the public file, if
appropriate. (See MPEP
Sections 724. 02 to 724.06.)
Please remember that all
patent application files are
published and made available
to the public 18 months from
the filing date, unless a nonpublication request is made in
the application. Additionally,
all patented application files
will become available to the
public upon the grant of the
patent.
If you have questions about
what information may be
published and how to remove

Privacy Policy

create individual profiles with the information you provide, or give it to any
private organizations. We do not collect information for commercial marketing.
Kids Pages
We are especially concerned about protecting the privacy of
children. We hope parents and teachers are involved in
children’s Internet explorations. We respect the need to protect
the identity of any children who participate in an Internet
exhibition of their work. We do not request any information from
children on the Kids Pages. We do, however, sometimes
encourage them to participate in contests, but such
participation is carried out through postal mail.

Use of Persistent Cookies and Tracking Technology:
We do not use persistent cookies or persistent tracking
technologies, such as those used for session customization for
returning visitors, on our website.
Use of Cookies on TEAS and OEMS:
We use memory resident cookies (not persistent) on our TEAS
and OEMS systems to maintain browser session integrity. No
personal information is gathered and it is not stored on your
hard drive. When you exit our site, the cookie terminates.
USA.gov Search
We utilize USA.gov to perform searches of our webpages.
When you request a search, a memory resident (session)
cookie is generated by USA.gov to maintain the search query
information during the search session. When you complete the
search, the cookie terminates.

Links to Other Sites
Our Website has links to many other federal agencies. In a few
cases we link to private organizations, with their permission.
Before leaving our website, a page will appear informing you
that you are leaving our server. Once you link to another site,
you are subject to the privacy policy of the new site.

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the material from documents
you plan to submit to the
USPTO, please call the
Inventors Assistance Center
at
1-800-786-9199
or 571-272-1000
TTY: 571-272-9950.

Privacy Policy

Privacy Act Systems of Records
Where this site requests information that will be stored in a
Privacy Act system of records, an individual Privacy Act
notice is provided. Should there ever be a need to use
information for a purpose other than one already provided for
under the Privacy Act, we will give you specific instructions
on how you may consent to such use. You are never
required to give such consent.
Information stored in any Privacy Act System of Records is
handled as set forth in the applicable System of Records Notice
in order to preserve its security and confidentiality. Privacy Act
System of Records notices are available at: http://www.
gpoaccess.gov/privacyact/index.html
Privacy Impact Assessments
OMB Circular A-11, Exhibit 300 Privacy Impact Assessments
Systems of Records Notices

KEY:

=online business system

=fees

=forms
(glossary)

=help

=laws/regulations

=definition

Is there a question about what the USPTO can or cannot do that you cannot find an answer for? Send questions about USPTO programs and
services to the USPTO Contact Center (UCC). You can suggest USPTO webpages or material you would like featured on this section by E-mail to
the webmaster@uspto.gov. While we cannot promise to accommodate all requests, your suggestions will be considered and may lead to other
improvements on the website.
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Last Modified: 09/08/2007 16:40:47

http://www.uspto.gov/web/doc/privact.htm (3 of 3)11/26/2007 6:26:11 PM