USPTO Notice of Erroneous Release of Patent Application Data

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has recently sent thousands of Notices indicating that, due to a software error, patent application bibliographic information data related to unpublished patent applications was temporarily accessible by the public.  The data was limited to only application serial numbers and titles, and occurred during the transition from using EPAS to Assignment Center for managing assignment information.  No information regarding Applicant or Assignee was accessible.  Any information accessed does not constitute a publication under 35 U.S.C. § 122(b).  In view of the large number of Notices received, we are not forwarding the Notices to our clients.  Given the minimal nature of the information disclosed, it is unlikely that there will be any negative impacts on the affected applicants.  Our clients are invited to contact us should they have any questions.