The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has announced a proposed rule to implement electronic patent issuance. The proposed rule looks to abolish the practice of mailing issued patents to a patentee opting for simply issuing the patent electronically.
Such a rule change was perhaps inevitable as the world moves from paper to fully digital. The current working from home arrangements in place for many may have only accelerated this transition. Additionally, the USPTO is not the first intellectual property office to move to an electronic-only patent grant certificate. The Chinese IP office stopped issuing paper patent certificate in March 2020. Read more