Patent Office Transitions to MyUSPTO Login

For many years, registered patent attorneys, patent agents, and some pro se inventors have been able to log into a secure portal at the Patent Office website to file and monitor patent applications. The portal is protected by both a password and a digital key that requires a lengthy certification process with the Patent Office, so it has mostly just been used by attorneys and agents.

This past month, the Patent Office introduced a MyUSPTO login through MyUSPTO.gov, which it billed as a “new, simpler, and safer USPTO.gov account” through which you can access patent and trademark files, monitor a docket, create watches to keep track of competitive patents or your own, and to access the search databases for both patents and trademarks. It is an attempt to unify patent and trademark records, as well as the filing and monitoring systems previously available through the Patent Office only.

Practitioners were asked to link their old portal accounts to their new MyUSPTO.gov accounts by the end of October. Fearing that the old portal would become inaccessible come November, I did this at the beginning of October. What I’ve learned is that while the MyUSPTO login does offer all the things mentioned above, it also additionally requires two-step verification each day, after completing a prolonged CAPTCHA. This is annoying and unnecessary. I’m not aware of any other provider that requires daily two-step verification; even WIPO doesn’t have it.

As a result, I haven’t been using the MyUSPTO login at all. All of the old services are accessible, and more easily accessible than MyUSPTO.gov. The USPTO is reporting that the digital keys will be officially retired in December, and that a new Patent Center software suite will be rolled out in 2020. As long as the Office continues to provide the old portal login system, I will probably use it, unless they ease this two-step requirement.