How does withdrawal affect the correspondence address for a patent application?

When a practitioner withdraws and the correspondence address will change as a result, the withdrawing practitioner(s) must request that the USPTO direct all future correspondence to one of the following:

• The first named inventor or assignee that has properly made itself of record (for applications filed before September 16, 2012)
• The applicant (for applications filed on or after September 16, 2012)
• The assignee of record (for proceedings involving issued patents)

Practitioners can specify either the correspondence address or the address associated with the Customer Number of the appropriate party. It’s important to note that withdrawing practitioners cannot change the correspondence address to another law firm’s Customer Number or any other address except those mentioned above.

This ensures that the patent application or proceeding remains properly managed after the practitioner’s withdrawal.

To learn more:

• correspondence address
• patent application
• practitioner withdrawal
• USPTO communication