Can abandoned applications be voluntarily published?
No, abandoned applications are not eligible for voluntary publication. The USPTO does not intend to publish abandoned applications, even if a request for voluntary publication has been submitted and accepted.
According to MPEP 1133: “Since the Office does not intend to publish abandoned applications, applications that are recognized by the Office as abandoned will not be published. Thus, if applicant submits a request for a voluntary publication of an application, but the application is later abandoned before the application publishes, the application may not be published even if the Office has accepted the request.“
This policy ensures that only active, pending applications are published, maintaining the relevance and accuracy of the published patent application database.
To learn more: