By Donald Zuhn –

In a Patent Alert distributed last week, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office reminded stakeholders that beginning on Monday, July 20, patent applicants and owners who are not domiciled in the U.S. or its territories are now required to be represented by a USPTO-registered patent practitioner.  The requirement was announced earlier this year in a final rule published in the Federal Register (91 Fed. Reg. 13510).

The Office noted that the amendment to the rules of practice to implement the new requirement is “part of the USPTO’s ongoing efforts to improve efficiency, reduce the backlog, improve quality, and deter fraud and misrepresentation in patent matters,” and “also brings USPTO policies in line with most other countries, including in Japan and before the European Patent Office, that require such parties be represented by a licensed or registered person of that country or office for most filings.”  The new requirement applies to all papers received in patent matters on or after July 20, 2026, regardless of the filing date of the application.

In the final rule published in the Federal Register in March, the Office noted that in addition to the benefits described above, the new requirement will “enable the USPTO to more effectively use available mechanisms to enforce compliance by all foreign applicants/inventors and patent owners with U.S. statutory and regulatory requirements in patent matters, and enhance the USPTO’s ability to respond to false certifications, misrepresentations, and fraud.”  The notice also indicates that the new requirement will help increase examination efficiency as the Office spends significant resources assisting pro se applicants with the prosecution of their applications.

In the Federal Register notice, the Office provided responses to nine comments that were received in response to the Office’s notice of proposed rulemaking that was published in December 2025.  In one response, the Office noted that despite the new requirement, when an application with a foreign-domiciled applicant but without the signature of a registered patent practitioner is filed, the application (including provisional applications) will be accorded a filing date under the conditions set forth in 37 C.F.R. § 1.53.  When an application is filed by a foreign inventor or applicant without the signature of a registered patent practitioner, the Office notes that it may mail a notice informing the inventor or applicant of the requirement for obtaining a practitioner, and when necessary, such notice will set a time period for response.  The Office, however, reminds stakeholders that the USPTO will not accept an Application Data Sheet or micro entity certification form that is signed by an inventor or applicant whose domicile is in a foreign country.  As a result of the submission of such an ADS, the Office states that “inventorship will not be set nor will benefit or priority claims be effective.”

The Federal Register notice also states that “[n]otwithstanding the ability to obtain a filing date, the representation requirement for foreign-domiciled applicants is applicable on the original date of filing,” and notes that “[i]n some instances, the failure to comply with the representation requirement on the original filing date may cause a result which cannot be remediated in a particular application.”  The notice provides two examples of such situations:  requests for an application not to publish and requests for prioritized examination.  In these situations, the Office states that “it is not possible to subsequently meet the requirements for the request in that application.”

Finally, the Office notes that the new requirement does not impact the payment of maintenance fees, as the Office will not consider the domicile of a patent owner with respect to acceptance of maintenance fees.

The Office’s Patent Alert notes that tools for selecting a registered patent practitioner can be found here.  Additional information regarding the new requirement can be found in the Federal Register notice discussed above and on the USPTO’s “U.S. Counsel Rule for Patent Applications and Patents” webpage.