USPTO Ends Guest Access to Patent Center, Mandates Identity Verification
Registration adds steps for support staff, in-house counsel, and foreign associates
Beginning today, September 11, 2025, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will require all users to have a registered and identity-verified account to access Patent Center. This change eliminates all guest and unregistered user access. While practitioners may be used to daily USPTO.gov log-ins, the new policy likely disturbs the workflows for many firms and IP stakeholders. Support staff, in-house counsel, foreign associates, and more will need a new gameplan.
The new policy is designed to address specific security concerns. According to the USPTO, mandatory verification helps to “deter fraudulent filings and allows us to monitor data miners who negatively affect stakeholder filings.”
The agency frames this move as a necessary step in its “ongoing efforts to protect customer data,” but it’s undoubtedly a significant shift in how the public and practitioners interact with the patent application system
At this time, paralegals and other support staff can use Patent Center’s sponsorship process and are not required to be “ID.me verified.”
Non-sponsored users will have two primary methods for verification: using the third-party platform ID.me for same-day access or submitting a traditional paper “Patent Electronic System Verification form” via mail (five to ten business days).
Ensuring Continuity of Access for IP Teams
For patent professionals, their staffs, and IP stakeholders, this change requires immediate attention to avoid any interruption in service.
The transition will affect different roles within a firm or corporate IP department in distinct ways.
Registered Practitioners: Patent attorneys and agents with existing USPTO.gov accounts will need to complete the identity verification step. Proactively using the ID.me platform is the most efficient path to prevent any loss of access that could jeopardize deadlines or delay communications with the Office.
Sponsored Support Staff: Paralegals, legal assistants, and other support staff sponsored by a registered practitioner will also need to verify their identities. Their access remains linked to their sponsoring practitioner, but their login credentials will now be tied to a verified individual identity. Law firm administrators should coordinate this process for all sponsored staff to ensure the entire team remains operational.
Technical and Ancillary Staff: Technical advisors, inventors, and other corporate staff who previously used guest access to review public file wrappers or check the status of applications will face the most significant change. They will no longer be able to view these documents without a registered account. These individuals must now create a USPTO.gov account and complete the identity verification process to continue their work. Some organizations may consider sponsoring these accounts under a registered practitioner to streamline management and oversight.
Foreign Counsel: foreign patent professionals must now re-evaluate how they interact with the USPTO's systems. The most straightforward path to access information from Patent Center will be through U.S. associate counsel. U.S.-based practitioners and their staff, who can more easily complete the identity verification process, will become the essential gateway to the system for their foreign partners. Direct access is still possible for foreign users who successfully complete one of the verification methods, but they should anticipate a more involved and lengthy onboarding process. It is unclear how the USPTO’s sponsorship model could apply in this context.
Public Access Now Behind a Registration Wall
Perhaps the most impactful consequence of this policy is the effective removal of anonymous public access to patent records through Patent Center.
Researchers, journalists, members of the public, and even technical experts who are not directly involved in prosecution could previously view any public document as a guest. Google Patents has a direct link on each patent and/or publication page.
With the new system, that is no longer possible. Any individual wishing to view a public patent application file must first create a USPTO.gov account and verify their identity with the government. This effectively places the public record—which has historically been open for anonymous inspection—behind a registration barrier.
While the documents themselves remain public, the ability to access them now requires self-identification. Individuals in this category who wish to continue accessing these files must register for a USPTO.gov account and follow the identity verification procedures outlined by the agency.
Foreign firms and companies will likely need to route all requests for file wrappers, office actions, and status updates through their U.S. counterparts. This adds a layer of communication and potential for delay but ensures reliable access to the required information.
Analysis and Discussion
This policy shift presents a mixture of clear advantages and potential operational hurdles.
Optimistically, the primary benefit is enhanced security. By ensuring every user is a known, verified entity, the USPTO can better protect applicant information and maintain the integrity of the electronic filing system. This move directly counters potential fraud and mitigates the system performance issues caused by aggressive data scraping. Perhaps the Office is already seeing agentic AI at work.
The main challenge from the new policy is logistical. Firms and corporate legal departments must now manage the verification process for every employee who interacts with Patent Center. The elimination of anonymous access may also be seen as a step back for transparency, creating an administrative hurdle for academic researchers, competitors, and others who monitor the patent system.
The most immediate risk for practitioners is workflow disruption. Failing to properly and fully verify an account before the deadline could result in a practitioner or their staff being locked out of Patent Center at a critical moment, potentially leading to missed deadlines.
Inhouse counsel and foreign representatives may experience information delays that affect their ability to advise clients on U.S. patent matters. An urgent need to review a file history before a client call or a USPTO deadline could be frustrated by the inability to access Patent Center directly. This may also increase the administrative burden on U.S. law firms, who may now have to service more frequent and routine information requests from their international colleagues.
A secondary risk involves data privacy; while ID.me is a common government partner, routing user verification through a third party may raise concerns for some users, though the USPTO's mail-in alternative provides another option.
Multifactor authentication is mandatory and email, text, and phone-call authentication are no longer permitted. Verification via apps like Okta, Authenticator, etc.—let alone the requirement to have a smart phone or tablet to verify with such an app—may be seen as a burden and invasion of privacy.
Conclusion
The USPTO’s new verification requirement is a likely meant as a step toward a more secure digital patent system. In case you haven’t heard, the AI robots are coming. While the move is likely a positive development for system stability and data protection, it requires the IP community to adapt rather quickly.
Patent professionals should promptly audit which team members require access and guide them through the new verification procedures. The era of casual, anonymous access to Patent Center is over, replaced by a system where every user is known and verified.
Disclaimer: This is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or financial advice. To the extent there are any opinions in this article, they are the author’s alone and do not represent the beliefs of his firm or clients. The strategies expressed are purely speculation based on publicly available information. The information expressed is subject to change at any time and should be checked for completeness, accuracy and current applicability. For advice, consult a suitably licensed attorney and/or patent professional.