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The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has recently finalized a significant change to its Rules of Practice in patent prosecution cases.
Effective July 20, 2026, patent applicants and patent owners whose domicile is outside the United States or its territories must be represented by a patent attorney or agent who is registered and in good standing with the USPTO. Foreign and foreign-domiciled applicants and patent owners should immediately confirm they have proper representation to make timely filings.
This requirement applies to all papers filed in prosecution matters, including pending and new applications filed by people or juristic entities (e.g., corporation, LLC). It brings U.S. patent practice in line with the approach taken by most other patent offices worldwide.
Scope of the Requirement
The rule covers any application or proceeding in which at least one applicant, inventor, or patent owner is domiciled abroad. Domicile is generally determined by the permanent legal residence of a person or the principal place of business of a juristic entity.
Once the rule takes effect, the USPTO will not enter any submission that requires a signature from a registered practitioner if it is not properly signed by one. While an initial application filed without a practitioner may still receive a filing date, subsequent prosecution steps and many important procedural filings will be affected. Importantly, the new rule applies to post-grant proceedings and other patent owner submissions before the USPTO where the patent owner is foreign-domiciled.
Why the USPTO Adopted This Rule
According to the USPTO, the change will:
- Increase the overall quality and clarity of filings;
- Improve examination efficiency;
- Strengthen the Office’s ability to address false certifications, misrepresentations, and potential fraud; and
- Harmonize U.S. requirements with international norms.
What This Means for Foreign Clients
Foreign-domiciled applicants and patent owners should review their current and upcoming U.S. patent portfolios now.
We recommend:
- Appointing U.S. patent counsel well in advance of July 20, 2026 to avoid disruptions in pending matters;
- Ensuring that time-sensitive filings — particularly priority claims, micro-entity status requests, and nonpublication requests — are handled by a registered practitioner on or before the filing date, as these rights cannot be recovered after the fact;
- Reviewing all pending applications to confirm that post-effective-date submissions will be covered by a registered practitioner; and
- Updating internal processes for future U.S. filings to incorporate mandatory U.S. representation from the outset.
Failure to comply may result in rejection of submissions, loss of priority claims, forfeiture of procedural rights, or the permanent loss of certain filing-date options that cannot be reinstated.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
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