Does the USPTO require the inventor Residential Mailing Address, and if so, why does the USPTO need it?

Question

When preparing a patent application for the USPTO, the patent lawyer I work with asks me for my "Full Residential Mailing Address" as I am one of the co-inventors. Is it required by the USPTO, and if so, why does the USPTO need my Residential Mailing Address? I only see the city, state and country on the published patents and patent applications, and don't receive any mails from the USPTO nor my lawyers, so my guess is that indicating my city, state and country would suffice.

Answer 1

Yes the USPTO forms requires a mailing address. I'm attaching a screenshot of the inventor information section of the Application Data Sheet.

"Full residential mailing address" is not really what the form asks for. It asks for two separate things - "Residence Information" and then mailing address. The mailing address does not need to be the location where you actually live. It can be a PO box located anywhere. Separately, for residence information the form does ask for your actual city county and state of residence but not street or street number.

They need a mailing address to potentially mail things to you, like your patent will go abandoned if you do not pay your maintenance fees. They certainly do mail lots of things to your attorney/agent of record. In your case the invention may be assigned to your employer and they will get the mail, not you. But the ownership rights of patent applications in the US starts with the inventors. The form is not different for inventors who do assign their rights vs those who retain their rights.