WIPO's Digital Access Service (DAS) has taken a lot of paper out of international patent practice: the applicant requests a DAS code from the office of first filing, gives that code to the foreign office, and the priority document moves electronically. When it works, nobody ships anything. But "when it works" has real boundaries, and filings still get caught on them.
Where DAS Ends and Paper Begins
- Not every office participates. DAS coverage keeps growing, but plenty of IP offices around the world still require a physical certified copy of the priority document — and an office outside the system can't accept a code no matter how valid it is.
- Participation varies by right type. An office may accept DAS for patents but not for industrial designs or trademarks. Assuming patent coverage extends to your design filing is a common miss.
- Some filings fall outside the window. If the code wasn't requested at the right time, or the foreign office's retrieval fails, the fallback is the certified paper copy — often against a deadline that's now uncomfortably close.
- Legalization needs paper. If the destination requires the priority document apostilled or consular-legalized (some do, particularly for use in litigation or recordal), only a physical certified copy can go through that chain.
The Paper Path, Briefly
For a U.S. priority application, the paper route means a certified copy from the USPTO — patent application, trademark application, or file history — with the certification branch's seal. From there it ships to your foreign associate directly, or continues into an apostille or consular legalization if the destination requires one. We covered the certified-copy process itself in an earlier post.
Planning Around It
The practical rule: confirm early — with your foreign associate, before the priority deadline is near — whether the receiving office takes DAS for your right type, and order the certified copy the moment the answer is no or unclear. A paper copy you didn't need is a minor cost; a code that doesn't work with three days left is not. To price a certified copy (with or without legalization), use our free estimate tool or reach out to our team.
The Patent Place specializes in obtaining certified documents from the USPTO and legalizing intellectual property documents for use in countries around the world.