Prerequisites
Your role includes audit log access. Administrators, inhouse counsel, paralegals, and outside counsel have it by default. Inventors do not. See Understanding User Roles and Permissions.
Steps
Opening the Audit Log
Open a patent from the patent list.
Click Audit Log in the sidebar, below Correspondence. The log opens in the main content area, newest entries first.
Reading Entries
Each row shows Date, Changed By, Field, Old Value, and New Value.
Changed By shows the team member who made the edit. Automated updates appear as System followed by the source, such as a patent office feed.
Structured values, such as custom fields, show an expand arrow. Click it to see every value.
For a Claims change, click See Difference. The Claim Changes modal shows the old and new claims side by side, with removed lines in red and added lines in green.
Click Load more at the bottom to fetch older entries.
Searching and Filtering
Enter a field name, value, or source in the search box to narrow the list.
Use the Filter dropdown to limit the type of event:
All events — Everything recorded for this patent.
Case fields — Edits to the patent's own fields, such as status, dates, numbers, counsel, claims, and custom fields.
Relationships — Changes to inventors, assignees, applicants, linked disclosures, and priority claims.
Owned records — Specification and drawing documents added to the patent.
Use the origin dropdown, which reads User edits by default, to choose which source you see. Choose Ingestion to see automated updates, or All origins for both.
Click the Date column header to switch between newest-first and oldest-first order.
Note: Claims updated from a certificate of correction arrive through ingestion. Switch the origin to Ingestion or All origins to see them.
Notes, labels, and tasks are not part of the audit log. Incoming updates that are still waiting for review appear in the changelog instead.
Related Articles
Patent Changelog Overview — Review incoming data updates before they are applied
Editing Patent Fields — Make the changes the audit log records
Patent Detail View — Tour the full patent detail page
Understanding User Roles and Permissions — Check which roles can view the audit log