How to Submit a FOIA and/or Privacy Act Request to the USPTO

The request must be in writing. No telephone requests will be accepted.

If you do not know the exact title of the document you are seeking, you should provide a reasonable description of the document. The more information that you can provide about the document, such as its author or date, the more expeditiously your request will be processed.

Your request will be logged and a tracking number assigned to it. The tracking number assigned is of great importance to you as a requester because, in the event you would like to check the status of your request, it enables us to locate where in the process your request is.

FOIA and/or Privacy Act Requests Should Be Addressed to:

In any e-mail request, please state that the request is made pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act or Privacy Act and/or describe the records sought. Failure to do so may result in your e-mail not being identified as a FOIA or Privacy Act request. The FOIARequests@uspto.gov e-mail address is for FOIA and Privacy Act submissions and related questions only.

For Privacy Act requests, please have your request notarized before submitting, or provide a copy of a government-issued identification along with your request. See 37 C.F.R. § 102.24 for more information. If you cannot comply with these requirements, please consult with the USPTO FOIA Office.

For general comments, please refer to the following USPTO website address:

https://www.uspto.gov/learning-and-resources/support-centers/uspto-contact-center-ucc

In the unusual circumstance that a record is not reasonably available in a format suitable for e-mail transmission, the USPTO may request a mailing address if you have not provided one. Failure to provide a mailing address could result in a delay in processing your request.

To check the status of a FOIA or Privacy Act Request, please wait until you have received acknowledgement that the USPTO has received your request and assigned it a request number (or if you have not received an acknowledgement or other contact from the USPTO within 10 business days of submitting your request, feel free to call). If you have questions or want to check the status of your request, you may email FOIARequests@uspto.gov or call 571-272-7000 and ask for FOIA assistance. Please identify your request number when you call or email. Most requests are fulfilled within 20 business days. If a request is going to take additional time due to complexity or volume, someone from our team will reach out to you.