The Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement program, known as QPIDS, lets you submit newly discovered prior art to the USPTO after you’ve paid the issue fee without automatically forcing your application into a full Request for Continued Examination. You file a conditional RCE alongside the IDS; if the examiner decides the new references don’t affect patentability, the application proceeds to grant and the RCE fee is refunded. QPIDS is a permanent program and applies only to nonprovisional utility applications.1United States Patent and Trademark Office. Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement
Without QPIDS, filing an IDS after the issue fee has been paid essentially requires an RCE: prosecution reopens, the application goes back in the queue, and you pay the full RCE fee with no refund. QPIDS keeps the conditional structure. The examiner reviews your references first. If they’re cumulative or otherwise don’t disturb the allowed claims, the USPTO issues a corrected notice of allowability and refunds the RCE fee. If they do raise a patentability question, prosecution reopens and the RCE processes normally, so you end up where you would have been anyway.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program
When You Can Use QPIDS
The program is limited to nonprovisional utility patent applications, including national stage applications under 35 U.S.C. 371 and reissue applications. Design applications, plant applications, and reexamination proceedings cannot use QPIDS.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program If you’re prosecuting a design patent, this route isn’t available at all.
The timing window is narrow. A QPIDS submission must be filed after you’ve paid the issue fee and before the patent issues. Filing on the same day you pay the issue fee is too early. Filing after the issue date is too late. The window is typically a few weeks, so your application status needs close monitoring during this period.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program
All QPIDS submissions must be filed electronically through Patent Center. Paper, fax, and hand delivery are not accepted.3United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent Center Quick Start Guide for Quick Path IDS (QPIDS)
What You Have to File
A compliant QPIDS submission has five components. Missing any one of them can get the petition dismissed.
- QPIDS transmittal form PTO/SB/09, which designates the submission as a QPIDS filing and carries the certifications required for the IDS to be considered after payment of the issue fee.1United States Patent and Trademark Office. Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement
- The Information Disclosure Statement itself, listing every new reference, with a timeliness statement under 37 CFR 1.97(e). That statement must certify either that each item was first cited in a counterpart foreign or international application not more than three months before the IDS was filed, or that no item was known to anyone with a duty of disclosure more than three months before filing. If neither certification can be made truthfully, QPIDS isn’t available.4eCFR. 37 CFR 1.97 – Filing of Information Disclosure Statement
- A web-based ePetition to withdraw the application from issue under 37 CFR 1.313(c)(2).5eCFR. 37 CFR 1.313 – Withdrawal From Issue
- A conditional Request for Continued Examination under 37 CFR 1.114, which will only be processed if the examiner determines the new references require reopening prosecution.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program
- Authorization to charge all fees to a USPTO deposit account. Credit card and other payment methods are not sufficient for QPIDS.6United States Patent and Trampark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program
Fees and What Gets Refunded
Several separate fees apply, and the amounts depend on entity size.
- Petition to withdraw from issue under 37 CFR 1.17(h): $150 large entity, $60 small entity, $30 micro entity.7eCFR. 37 CFR 1.17 – Patent Application and Reexamination Processing Fees
- IDS timing fee under 37 CFR 1.17(p): $280 large, $112 small, $56 micro.7eCFR. 37 CFR 1.17 – Patent Application and Reexamination Processing Fees
- Conditional RCE fee under 37 CFR 1.17(e): $1,500 large, $600 small, $300 micro. This is the amount refunded if the examiner finds no need to reopen prosecution.8United States Patent and Trademark Office. USPTO Fee Schedule
- IDS size fee under 37 CFR 1.17(v), which applies only if the cumulative number of applicant-provided references across all IDS filings in the application exceeds 50. The fee is $200 for 51–100 cumulative items, $500 for 101–200, and $800 for more than 200, with credits for amounts already paid at lower tiers.7eCFR. 37 CFR 1.17 – Patent Application and Reexamination Processing Fees
The best-case scenario for a large entity whose references don’t trigger reopening: $430 out of pocket (petition fee plus IDS timing fee), with the $1,500 conditional RCE fee refunded. If the examiner reopens prosecution, every fee sticks. Either way, your disclosure obligation is met.
Filing Through Patent Center
Log into Patent Center as a registered user and select “Petitions” from the main navigation. From the ePetition options, choose the petition to withdraw an application from issue after payment of the issue fee.3United States Patent and Trademark Office. Patent Center Quick Start Guide for Quick Path IDS (QPIDS)
Enter the petition data and upload your prepared PDFs, including the PTO/SB/09 transmittal and the IDS with its supporting references. Patent Center compiles the petition information into a petition-request.pdf that appears on the upload documents screen for review before you submit.
On the fee authorization screen, enter your USPTO deposit account number and authorize charges for the petition fee, IDS timing fee, conditional RCE fee, and any applicable IDS size fee. Verify that the authorization covers every fee associated with the submission. Incomplete fee authorization is a common cause of dismissal. Signing electronically finalizes the filing.
What Happens After You File
The examiner reviews each reference in the IDS to decide whether any item affects the patentability of the allowed claims. Two outcomes follow.
If none of the references require reopening prosecution, the USPTO issues a corrected notice of allowability acknowledging that the references have been considered. The withdrawal from issue is canceled, the application proceeds toward grant, the conditional RCE is not processed, and the RCE fee is refunded to your deposit account.9Federal Register. Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement (QPIDS) Pilot Program
If any reference raises a substantive patentability question, prosecution formally reopens. The application is withdrawn from issue, and the conditional RCE is processed using the funds already authorized. Notifications arrive through Patent Center, and from that point you’re in standard RCE posture, responding to the examiner’s concerns as in any reopened prosecution.1United States Patent and Trademark Office. Quick Path Information Disclosure Statement
Watch the Patent Term Adjustment Trap
Filing an IDS after allowance can reduce patent term adjustment. Under 37 CFR 1.704(d), an IDS filing won’t count as applicant delay for PTA, but only if you include a specific certification on Form PTO/SB/133. That form is separate from the PTO/SB/09 transmittal used for QPIDS itself.10eCFR. 37 CFR 1.704 – Reduction of Period of Adjustment of Patent Term
The PTO/SB/133 certification requires you to attest that each item in the IDS was first cited in a communication from a patent office in a counterpart foreign or international application, and that the communication was received not more than thirty days before the IDS was filed. The thirty-day window is not extendable.10eCFR. 37 CFR 1.704 – Reduction of Period of Adjustment of Patent Term Note the mismatch with the IDS timeliness statement under 37 CFR 1.97(e), which uses a three-month window. You can satisfy one and not the other.
If the PTO/SB/133 is skipped, or you can’t truthfully make the thirty-day certification, the IDS filing may be treated as applicant delay, reducing PTA day for day. For applications where significant PTA has accrued, that trade-off is worth weighing before filing.
Mistakes That Get a QPIDS Petition Dismissed
A noncompliant QPIDS submission will be dismissed without the references being considered, and the filing window can’t be reopened. The errors that come up most often:
- Wrong application type. QPIDS is limited to nonprovisional utility applications, including national stage and reissue. Design and plant applications are excluded.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program
- Bad timing. Submitting before the issue fee is paid, on the same day it is paid, or after the patent has issued is fatal to the petition.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program
- Missing timeliness statement. The IDS must include a certification under 37 CFR 1.97(e). Without a truthful one, QPIDS is unavailable.4eCFR. 37 CFR 1.97 – Filing of Information Disclosure Statement
- Incomplete fee authorization. The deposit account authorization must cover every fee. Partial authorization or credit card payment leads to dismissal.2United States Patent and Trademark Office. Frequently Asked Questions – QPIDS Program
- Missing components. Any of the five required elements left out, whether the PTO/SB/09, the IDS, the petition, the conditional RCE, or the deposit account authorization.
- Non-electronic filing. Mail or fax instead of Patent Center.
Because the window closes when the patent issues, a dismissed petition can leave you with no option except a separate full-cost RCE, or the patent issuing without the references of record. Getting the package right the first time is the only realistic strategy.