Patent Law FAQ

This FAQ answers all your questions about patent law, patent procedure, and the patent examination process.

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Here’s the complete FAQ:

A patent application file becomes available to the public in the following situations:

When the application has issued as a patent or published as a statutory invention registration
When the application has been published and subsequently abandoned
When the application has been published and is still pending
When an unpublished, abandoned application is identified or relied upon in certain public documents
When the benefit of an unpublished pending application is claimed in certain public documents

These conditions are outlined in 37 CFR 1.14(a)(1). In most cases, a fee is required to access the application file contents.