The USPTO’s patent assignment database holds every recorded patent ownership transfer from August 1980 forward, and you can search it for free at assignmentcenter.uspto.gov. The same portal is where you record a new assignment. Searching requires no account; recording does. Electronic recording costs nothing per property, while paper filings cost $54 per property and take much longer to process.1United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO Fee Schedule Records predating August 1980 are held at the National Archives and Records Administration.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patents Assignments – Change and Search Ownership
How To Search Patent Ownership Records
Open assignmentcenter.uspto.gov/search/patent. The search tool accepts patent numbers, patent application numbers, and the names of assignors or assignees. Each recorded document carries a reel and frame number that works like a filing reference. Pull up a record and you see who transferred the patent, who received it, what type of transaction it was, and the date the USPTO recorded it. Follow the chain forward from the original grant and you have the complete ownership history.
What Shows Up Besides Straight Assignments
The database is not limited to clean ownership transfers. It also captures security interests where a patent is pledged as collateral for a loan, mergers, name changes, and other documents affecting title to a patent or application.3eCFR. 37 CFR 3.11 – Documents Which Will Be Recorded If you are doing due diligence before buying a patent or investing in a company that owns one, checking for a recorded security interest matters as much as confirming the current owner. A lien on the record means a lender has a claim on that patent, which can complicate any transfer. Note that ordinary licensing agreements are not recorded here; only documents affecting title are.
What You Need To Record an Assignment
Recording takes two things: the assignment document and a cover sheet. Get either wrong and the USPTO sends back a Notice of Non-Recordation.
The Assignment Document
Federal law requires that any patent assignment be in writing, and the writing must clearly identify the patent or application being transferred.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 35 US Code 261 – Ownership; Assignment Submit a copy, not the original. The USPTO does not return recorded documents. For electronic submissions, the file must be PDF or TIFF and no larger than 10 MB.5United States Patent and Trademark Office. Assignment Center Training Guide – Patents
The Cover Sheet
The cover sheet is what the USPTO uses to index your transaction in the public record. If the cover sheet lists the wrong patent number, the assignment gets recorded against the wrong property, so verify every number before submitting. Under 37 CFR 3.31, a patent assignment cover sheet must include:6eCFR. 37 CFR 3.31 – Cover Sheet Content
- The full name of the conveying party (the assignor)
- The full name and address of the receiving party (the assignee)
- The nature of the transaction: assignment, merger, name change, security interest, or other conveyance
- Each patent number or application number, including the series code and serial number for national applications
- The execution date, meaning when the assignment document was signed
- A correspondence address for USPTO communications about the recording
- The signature and date of the person submitting the document
The USPTO provides an optional paper form for patents, PTO-1595.7United States Patent and Trademark Office. PTO-1595 Recordation Form Cover Sheet – Patents Only Do not confuse it with PTO-1594, which is the trademark form. The preprinted form is not mandatory for paper submissions,8United States Patent and Trademark Office. Transferring Ownership and Assignments FAQs but the required information listed above is.
Foreign-Language Documents
The USPTO will record an assignment written in a language other than English, but only if accompanied by an English translation signed by the person who made the translation.9eCFR. 37 CFR 3.26 – English Language Requirement No notarization or professional certification is required. The translator’s signature is enough. Submit without a translation and the recording request comes back.
Electronic Signatures
For electronic submissions, the cover sheet can carry an S-signature: the signer’s name typed between forward slashes, for example /Jane Smith/. The signer must personally type it. The printed name must appear right next to the S-signature so the identity is unambiguous.10United States Patent and Trademark Office. Signatures – 37 CFR 1.4
Submitting Through Assignment Center
The USPTO retired the older Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS) and replaced it with Assignment Center, one portal for both patent and trademark filings.11United States Patent and Trademark Office. Assignment Center Fully Replaces EPAS and ETAS for Patent and Trademark Assignment Submissions Any guide still referencing EPAS is out of date.
To submit, you need a USPTO.gov account with identity verification and two-step authentication. Log in at assignmentcenter.uspto.gov, click “Create new,” and fill in each field the system asks for: conveyance type, conveying party, receiving party, property numbers, and correspondence details. Upload the assignment document, review the auto-generated cover sheet, sign, and submit.5United States Patent and Trademark Office. Assignment Center Training Guide – Patents
You receive an acknowledgment with a preliminary recordation date. Once processing finishes, a permanent reel and frame number confirms the entry in the public database. If something is off, the USPTO issues a Notice of Non-Recordation explaining what needs to be fixed. Resubmit through Assignment Center using the document number and access code on the notice.
Recording Fees
Electronic recording is $0 per property. Paper filing by mail is $54 per property listed on the cover sheet.1United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO Fee Schedule A single assignment covering five patents filed on paper costs $270. The same submission filed electronically costs nothing.
Deadline and What Happens if You Skip Recording
Under 35 U.S.C. 261, an unrecorded assignment is void against a later buyer or lender who pays value for the same patent and has no knowledge of the earlier transfer.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 35 US Code 261 – Ownership; Assignment Put plainly: if you buy a patent, do not record, and the seller resells it to someone who checks the database and sees nothing, you can lose your ownership claim.
To keep that protection, record within three months of the execution date, or before the later sale or mortgage is made, whichever comes first.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 35 US Code 261 – Ownership; Assignment The clock runs from the date the document was signed, not from when it was filed. Missing the window does not by itself void the assignment between the original parties, but it does strip the protection against a later good-faith purchaser. Record early.
After Recording: What the New Owner Should Not Forget
Recording puts the transfer in the public record. It does not handle two other obligations that catch new owners.
Utility patents need three maintenance fee payments to stay in force: at 3.5 years, 7.5 years, and 11.5 years after issue.12Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 35 US Code 41 – Patent Fees; Patent and Trademark Search Systems Miss a payment, let the six-month grace period run out without a surcharge, and the patent expires.13United States Patent and Trademark Office. Maintain Your Patent The USPTO sends expiration notices to the fee address or correspondence address on file, so update that address after an assignment. Design and plant patents do not require maintenance fees.
If the transfer is part of a larger business acquisition where goodwill or going-concern value is involved, both buyer and seller file IRS Form 8594 (Asset Acquisition Statement Under Section 1060) with their tax returns for that year.14Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8594, Asset Acquisition Statement Under Section 1060 The database recording and the tax reporting are independent obligations. Doing one does not satisfy the other.