M.S. Yout thigt 4-30-1929 RULES OF PRACTICE IN THE UNITED STA PATENT OFFICE February 1, 1929 Rev. S 481, 48 Exec 1925, 3 The following rules of practice, duly adopted and approved by the Secretary of Commerce, designed to be in strict accordance with the Revised Statutes relating to the der of grant of patents for inventions, are published for gratui- 957. tous distribution. Marginal references to corresponding provisions of the Revised Statutes are given for the convenience of the public and of the office. Ma referend Obse The observance of the appended forms, in all cases to form which they may be applicable, is recommended to inven- mended tors and attorneys. of stat Printed copies of the laws relating to the grant of Print patents may be obtained on application to the Com- nished. missioner. THOMAS E. ROBERTSON, CORRESPONDENCE AND INTERVIEWS transa 1. All business with the office should be transacted in Busin writing. Unless by the consent of all parties, the action writing of the office will be based exclusively on the written record. No attention will be paid to any alleged oral promise, stipulation, or understanding in relation to which there is a disagreement or doubt. to be mission 2. All office letters must be sent in the name of the Corre "Commissioner of Patents." All letters and other com- name of munications intended for the office must be addressed to him; if addressed to any of the other officers, they will ordinarily be returned. be prep 3. Express charges, freight, postage, and all other, All charges on matter sent to the Patent Office must be prepaid in full; otherwise it will not be received. tendance of ap Personal at- 4. The personal attendance of applicants at the Patent plicants unneces- Office is unnecessary. Their business can be transacted by correspondence. sary. Correspondence with assignees. Correspondence with inventor 5. The assignee of the entire interest of an invention is entitled to hold correspondence with the office to the exclusion of the inventor. (See rule 20.) 6. When there has been an assignment of an undivided and assignee. part of an invention, amendments and other actions requiring the signature of the inventor must also receive the written assent of the assignee; but official letters will only be sent to the post-office address of the inventor, unless he shall otherwise direct. Correspondence with attorney. Double correspondence. Separate let ters. Letters relating to applications. Letters relating to patents. Protests. Public proceedings. use 7. When an attorney shall have filed his power of attorney, duly executed, the correspondence will be held with him. A double correspondence with the inventor and an assignee, or with a principal and his attorney, or with two attorneys, can not generally be allowed. 8. A separate letter should in every case be written in relation to each distinct subject of inquiry or application. Assignments for record, final fees, and orders for copies or abstracts must be sent to the office in separate letters. Papers sent in violation of this rule will be returned. 9. When a letter concerns an application, it should state the name of the applicant, the title of the invention, the serial number of the application (see rule 31), and the date of filing the same (see rule 32). 10. When the letter concerns a patent, it should state the name of the patentee, the title of the invention, and the number and date of the patent. 11. No attention will be paid to unverified ex parte statements or protests of persons concerning pending applications to which they are not parties, unless information of the pendency of these applications shall have been voluntarily communicated by the applicants. When a petition for the institution of public use proceedings, supported by affidavits, is found, on reference to the primary examiner, to make a prima facie showing that the invention involved in an interference or disclosed in an application believed to be on file had been in public use or on sale two years before the filing of the application, or before the date alleged by an interfering party in his preliminary statement, a hearing may be had before the Commissioner to determine whether a public use proceeding should be instituted. If instituted, times may be set for taking testimony. The papers should be filed in duplicate, or served upon the applicant or his attorney of record and petitioner should offer to bear any expense to which the office may be put. 12. Mail placed in the Patent Office pouch in the post Mail. office at Washington, D. C., up to 4.30 p. m. on week days, excepting holidays, and 1 p. m. on half holidays, is entered as received in the Patent Office on the day it reaches the post office. after office hours. Special-delivery letters and other papers may be de- Filing of papers posited in a box provided at the watchman's desk at the F Street entrance of the Patent Office up to midnight on week days, including holidays, and all papers deposited therein are entered as received in the Patent Office on the day of deposit. ters and examiners. tele Letters received at the office will be answered, and Answers to letorders for printed copies filled, without unnecessary de- grams. lay. Telegrams, if not received before 3 o'clock p. m., can not ordinarily be answered until the following day. 13. Interviews with examiners concerning applications Interviews with and other matters pending before the office must be had in the examiners' rooms at such times, within office hours, as the respective examiners may designate; in the absence of the primary examiners, with the assistant in charge. Interviews will not be permitted at any other time or place without the written authority of the Commissioner. Interviews for the discussion of pending applications will not be had prior to the first official action thereon. INFORMATION TO CORRESPONDENTS which informa given. 14. The office can not respond to inquiries as to the Subjects on novelty of an alleged invention in advance of the filing tion can not be of an application for a patent, nor to inquiries propounded with a view to ascertaining whether any alleged improvements have been patented, and, if so, to whom; nor can it act as an expounder of the patent law, nor as counsellor for individuals, except as to questions arising within the office. Rev. Stat., secs. 475, 481, Of the propriety of making an application for a patent, the inventor must judge for himself. The office 484, 4883. is open to him, and its records pertaining to all patents granted may be inspected either by himself or by any Records and models open to inventors. |