Client Update: USPTO Rule Change
USPTO Rule Change – Foreign Applicants and Patent Owners Must Now be Represented by a Registered US Patent Practitioner
As of July 20, 2026, all non-United States domiciled patent applicants and patentees, individuals and corporations, must be represented by a registered US patent practitioner, which may be a patent attorney or patent agent, in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This rule is published in the Federal Register at 91 FR 13510.
While a foreign domiciled patent applicant may file a provisional or non-provisional patent application, themselves, this filing is only to establish the application’s filing date. Any follow-up to the filing, including payments of fees, filing of an Application Data Sheet (ADS), or follow-on correspondence, such as submitting oaths, declarations, amendments or assignment must be signed by a US practitioner. For example, an ADS submitted with a filing but not signed by a registered patent practitioner will be treated as a transmittal letter and not as an ADS. In other words, while initial filing to establish a filing date is still permitted, immediately thereafter a US practitioner is absolutely required.
Thus, to avoid any mishaps, it is strongly recommended to have provisional and non-provisional applications filed by a registered US patent practitioner.
The rationale behind the rule is that the USPTO has now aligned itself with other national/regional patent offices, which require representation therein by nationally/regionally registered practitioners. For example, this is the case in Israel, Europe, Canada, China, Japan and Australia, the most common filing nations for Israeli patent applicants, after the US.
The USPTO believes that this requirement will increase efficiency and enable the USPTO to more effectively use available mechanisms to enforce compliance by all foreign applicants/inventors and patent owners with US statutory and regulatory requirements in patent matters. It will also allow the USPTO to better respond to false certifications and detect misrepresentations and fraud.
Cohn, de Vries, Stadler & Co. (Herzog Patents) has a fully staffed US Filing Department including registered US Patent Attorneys, available to provide full service in US patent matters.
