Anything, Anons? Would the PALM database be used for nefarious purposes?

USPTO systems status update

The USPTO is performing emergency IT maintenance due to an issue with the agency’s PALM database. The PALM database provides the necessary data used by the agency’s systems for, among other things, filing, searching, and paying fees. Because the PALM database is down for maintenance, the following systems are currently unavailable:

Electronic Filing System (EFS-Web)

Electronic Filing System and Contingency (EFS-Web and EFS-Web Contingency)

Electronic Freedom of Information Act (E-FOIA)

Electronic Patent Assignment System (ePAS)

Employee Locator Search

Global Dossier (GD)

Office of Enrollment and Discipline Information System (OEDIS)

Order Entry Management System (OEMS)

One Portal Dossier (OPD)

Patent Global Dossier Public Access Dossier (P-GD-PAD)

Patent Maintenance Fees Storefront

Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (Private PAIR)

Public Patent Application Information Retrieval (Public PAIR)

Patent Review Process System (PRPS)

Patent Trial and Appeal Board End-to-End (PTAB-E2E)

Other systems that display Patent Application data may have brief interruptions or data links that are unavailable. No systems related to Trademarks are affected by this situation.

We understand how critical these systems are for our customers and how frustrating it is to have them down. We are working diligently to fully restore them as quickly as possible. Please read our information regarding alternative filing and payment methods that you can use during this outage.

Further status updates will be issued on our website as they become available.

Thank you for your patience as we work to restore full service as soon as possible.