How are foreign patent documents organized in the USPTO?

This page is an FAQ based on guidance from the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure. It is provided as guidance, with links to the ground truth sources. This is information only: it is not legal advice.

Foreign patent documents in the USPTO are organized differently based on when they were received:

• Documents received before October 1, 1995: These were typically placed in the shoes in the Technology Center (TCs), organized according to the United States Patent Classification System (USPC) or, less frequently, the International Patent Classification (IPC) system.
• Documents received after October 1, 1995: These are available through various digital platforms. As stated in the MPEP, Foreign patents received by the Office after October 1, 1995 are available on the USPTO’s automated search systems, the Foreign Patent Access System (FPAS), Internet sites, and the Scientific and Technical Information Center (STIC) collections.