What are the requirements for filing papers with the USPTO?

What are the requirements for filing papers with the USPTO?

When filing papers with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), it’s important to adhere to specific requirements:

• Papers must be legibly written either by hand or printed in permanent dark ink or its equivalent.
• They should be presented on flexible, strong, smooth, non-shiny, durable, and white paper.
• All papers must be presented in a form having sufficient clarity and contrast between the paper and the writing to permit electronic reproduction by use of digital imaging and optical character recognition.

As stated in MPEP 501: All papers that are to become a part of the permanent records of the United States Patent and Trademark Office should be legibly written either by a typewriter or mechanical printer in permanent dark ink or its equivalent in portrait orientation on flexible, strong, smooth, non-shiny, durable, and white paper.

These requirements ensure that all documents can be properly processed and stored by the USPTO.

For more information on document legibility, visit: document legibility.