What defines the accepted date and time of filing for a patent?

The accepted date and time of filing for a patent is determined by the date of successful transmission completion. This means that when an application is filed electronically, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recognizes the filing date as the moment when the application has been successfully transmitted to their electronic filing system.

This process is crucial because timely filing can affect the applicant's rights and their priority claims. Due to the nature of electronic submissions, simply hitting the "submit" button does not guarantee that the application has been successfully filed — there must be confirmation from the USPTO that the application has been received and accepted.

In contrast, the date the application is submitted does not capture the completion of the transmission process. It may still be pending or not yet reached the USPTO's system. The date the patent office opens is also irrelevant as it doesn’t pertain to the individual filing, especially considering that electronic submissions can occur outside of normal business hours. Lastly, the date of payment is not the determining factor for the filing date; it's entirely possible for an application to be filed first and payment to be processed later, as long as all necessary fees are settled by a specific deadline. Thus, successful transmission completion is what officially marks the filing date and