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.
Contact Us Today
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.