PDF Creation for EFS-Web

United States Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450*

Some PDF Facts

• Portable Document Format (PDF) is an open file format specification that is not owned

by Adobe. PDF is supported by many vendors through freeware and shareware imple-

mentations found on the web. USPTO has preliminarily tested a variety of vendors’

products and a list of those that work with EFS-Web is included in this document.

• PDF is a universal file format that preserves the fonts, images, graphics, and layout of any

source document, regardless of the application and platform used to create it.

• PDF is the de facto standard for secure and reliable distribution and exchange of elec-

tronic documents and forms around the world.

• There are two software tools associated with PDF: Readers and Writers. EFS-Web requires

you to have a PDF Writer to create your PDF files. We recommend you have PDF reader

to view your documents.

Because PDF is an open file format, it’s important to keep in mind a few things about the

characteristics of the PDF files that can be accepted by EFS-Web.

PDF Creators Compatible with EFS-Web

EFS-Web accepts standard PDF documents up to 25 megabytes. The most common

versions of commercial PDF Writer software that work with EFS-Web include:

• Adobe Acrobat Professional

• ABXPDF Writer (Freeware)

• Open Office (Freeware)

• Easy Office (Ad ware)

• Cute PDF (Freeware)

• PDF Redirect (Freeware)

• PDF 995 (Ad ware)

• Primo PDF (Freeware)

PDF Versions Accepted

USPTO supports PDF versions 1.1 to 1.6 for PDF creation, and Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0.8 or

higher to use USPTO Fillable forms.

EFS-Web is the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO’s) new easy-to-use,

web-based patent application and document submission solution. EFS-Web utilizes

standard web-based screens and prompts to enable you to submit a portable docu-

ment format (PDF) document directly to the USPTO within minutes. Submitting PDF

documents requires the use of a PDF Writer and compliance with some basic file

structures, as described here.

United States Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450*

PDF Creation for EFS-Web

File Naming Convention

The filename should start with [ A-Z, a-z , 0-9 ] excluding brackets and commas. The last 4

characters need to be .pdf

The filename can consist of [ A-Z, a-z, 0-9,

, -, . ] excluding the brackets and commas. No

spaces are allowed in the actual PDF file name, but spaces are permitted in file path. The

name can be up to 100 characters long including .pdf

PDF Document Size:

EFS-Web will accept standard 8.5 inch by 11 inch formatted documents, as well as A4

(21 centimeter x 29.7 centimeter) documents. Larger page sizes will be normalized to

8.5” x 11” and may become distorted or hard to read. The maximum file size accepted is 14

inch by 14 inch.

Fonts

All fonts used in the PDF must be embedded in the document. Embedding allows the

fonts used in the creation of a document to travel with that document, ensuring that

USPTO sees documents exactly as the author intended them to be seen.

Text Color

EFS-Web best handles PDF documents with black text. Text of other colors may not

convert to image properly, resulting in unreadable or invisible text.

Images

EFS-Web supports the use of black and white, color or grayscale images within the PDF

document. You may submit color drawings for design applications. For best resolution,

images should be scanned at a minimum resolution of 300 DPI in any one of the following

formats: TIFF, PNG, GIF, BMP.

Some image file formats, such as TIFF, permit the use of multiple layers. EFS-Web requires

that images with multiple layers be “flattened” before embedding them into the PDF

document. In addition, before an image is flattened, all layers should be marked as “visible”

to ensure the complete image is visible to the examiner.

Ideally, no compression will be used during the creation process. (Some PDF creation

software may automatically reduce the resolution of images during the creation process,

which can degrade the quality of the image).

It’s also important to note that EFS-Web does not support the use of “Alternate Images”

(a feature within PDF that allows for one image to be rendered on screen and a different

image to be rendered for printing).

United States Patent and Trademark Office Commissioner for Patents P.O. Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450*

PDF Creation for EFS-Web

PDF Layers

While PDF documents can store information on different layers that is generated from

various applications, EFS-Web accepts only flattened PDF files. By flattening documents

prior to submission, you ensure that the complete document is available to the examiner.

“Invisible” layers will be lost because USPTO automatically flattens the file.

Object Content

EFS-Web supports PDF documents that contain text and images and does not support

other “objects” such as multimedia (e.g., sound, video, animations, slideshows),

3-dimensional models (e.g., CAD drawings), file attachments, multi-page objects (e.g.,

Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, multi-page TIFF images), and commenting/reviewing features

(highlighting, annotations, comments, notes, and the like).

Because the file being submitted must be a complete file – just like paper applications

– there must be no dependencies on external files or resources of any type in order to ren-

der the attached image.

PDF Security

Password protected and encrypted PDF documents cannot be processed due to conflicts

with EFS-Web’s embedded security functionality.

Embedded Code/Viruses

The PDF document must be free of executables, worms, viruses, or any type of potentially

malicious content. Files with potential malicious content will be deleted in order to

preserve the integrity of the system for all filers.

Converting Text-Based PDF files to Image-Based

If you have Adobe Acrobat Professional, you may convert your text-based PDF file to

an image-based PDF file. This is useful when trying to validate a PDF in EFS-Web and

repeatedly receiving a non-embedded fonts error. It can be used as a replacement of

printing and scanning in documents. First, take your PDF file and open it in Adobe Acrobat.

Select File, Print then select the Adobe print driver. Select the Advanced tab now select

print as image.

Support

Technical support is available through USPTO’s Electronic Business Center (EBC) at

866-217-9197 from 6 a.m. to 12 Midnight Eastern Time, Monday – Friday.

Training

Training and an EFS-Web QuickStart Guide are provided on the USPTO EFS-Web page.

USPTO is committed to assisting the intellectual property community in moving towards

electronic submission of all patent applications and documents. For more information on

EFS-Web, visit our website at www.USPTO.gov.