The USPTO recently released a 2020 update regarding U.S. women inventor-patentees, incorporating three years of new data and nearly one million issued patents to their previous 2016 report. The information was obtained via PatentsView, a free database supported by the USPTO Office of the Chief Economist.            

Notices of Allowance (NOA) mailed by the USPTO between September 9th and September 15th may list an incorrect issue fee amount that mistakenly incorporated the new fee rule. The new rule is effective October 2nd, 2020 and will only be reflected in Notices of Allowance sent on or after that date. In each affected case, the USPTO will mail a corrected NOA. The corrected NOA will contain the correct issue fee and reset the time period for payment. The USPTO will reach out to those who have already paid the issue fee with further guidance.

The USPTO has announced a Final Rule which sets or adjusts 296 patent fees for large, small, and micro entities. The Final Rule is effective October 2, 2020, except for a surcharge for non-DOCX filings effective January 1, 2022, and is available at https://www.uspto.gov/about-us/performance-and-planning/summary-fy-2020-final-patent-fee-rule .