"23. Testimony in Patent Office cases; subpenas, commissions, letters rogatory; witnesses.

"24. Oath and declaration in lieu of oath.

"25. Effect of defective execution.

"26. Filing by mail.

"§21. Day for taking action falling on Saturday, Sunday, or holiday

"When the day, or the last day, for taking any action or paying any fee in the United States Patent Office, or as otherwise provided in this title, falls Saturday, Sunday, a holiday within the District of Columbia, or on any day the Patent Office is closed for the receipt of papers, the action may be taken, or the fee paid, on the next succeeding secular or business day.

"S22. Form of papers filed

"The Commissioner may by regulation prescribe the form of papers filed in the Patent Office.

"§23. Testimony in Patent Office cases; subpenas, commissions, letters rogatory; witnesses

"(a) The Commissioner may establish rules, not inconsistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the provisions of this title, for taking depositions required in cases in the Patent Office. Any officer authorized by law to take depositions to be used in the courts of the United States, or of the State where he resides, may take such depositions.

"(b) (1) The clerk of any United States court for the district wherein a deposition is to be taken for use in any matter pending in the Patent Office, shall, upon the application of the Commissioner or the Solicitor or any other person party thereto, issue a subpena for any witness residing or being within such district, commanding him to appear and testify before an officer in such district authorized to take depositions, at the time and place stated in the subpena. The provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure relating to depositions and subpenas for the attendance of witnesses and the production of documents and things shall apply to contested cases in the Patent Office.

"(2) Every witness subpenaed and in attendance shall be allowed the fees and traveling expenses allowed to witnesses attending the United States district courts.

“(3) A judge of a court whose clerk issued a subpena may enforce obedience to the process or punish disobedience as in other like cases, on proof that a witness, served with such subpena, neglected or refused to appear or to testify or to produce documents and things as directed. No witness shall be deemed guilty of contempt for disobeying such subpena unless his fees and traveling expenses in going to, and returning from, and one day's attendance at the place of examination, are paid or tendered him at the time of the service of the subpena; nor for refusing to disclose any secret matter except upon appropriate order of the court which issued the subpena.

"(c) The United States District Court for the District of Columbia shall, at the request of the Commissioner, issue such commission or letters rogatory pursuant to rule 28(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure as may be appropriate in carrying out the provisions of Section 134 of this title.

"(d) The deposition of a witness appearing voluntarily on proper notice may be taken without subpena or commission or letters rogatory.

"(e) The admissibility of evidence in cases in the Patent Office shall be determined in accordance with the rules of evidence in force at the time in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

"§24. Oath and declaration in lieu of oath

"(a) An oath to be filed in the Patent Office may be made before any person within the United States authorized to administer oaths, or before any officer authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the affiant may be, whose authority shall be proved by certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, and such oath shall be valid if it complies with the laws of the State or country where made.

"(b) The Commissioner may by regulation prescribe that any document to be filed in the Patent Office and which is required by any law or regulation to be under oath may be subscribed to by a written declaration in such form as the Commissioner may prescribe, such declaration to be in lieu of the oath oth erwise required.

"(c) Whenever such written declaration is used, the document must warn the declarant that willful false statements and the like are subject to punishment including fine or imprisonment, or both, citing title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.

"(d) Whenever the affiant or declarant does not use English as his primary language, the oath or declaration shall be made in his primary language and shall be filed with an English translation, the accuracy of which shall be attested pursuant to such rules as the Commissioner may prescribe.

"$25. Effect of defective execution

"Any document to be filed in the Patent Office and which is required by any law or regulation to be executed in a specified manner may be provisionally accepted by the Commissioner despite a defective execution, provided a properly executed document is submitted within such time as may be prescribed by the Commissioner, not to exceed six months.

“26. Filing by mail

"Any applicant may depsoit or cause to be deposited any paper required or permitted by this title to be filed in the United States Patent Office by him or on his behalf in any United States Post Office addressed to the Commissioner of Patents, postage prepaid in the most expeditous class, certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, and the same shall be deemed to have been filed in the Patent Office on the date of its deposit in the Post Office.

"Sec.

"CHAPTER 3.-PRACTICE BEFORE THE PATENT OFFICE

31. Regulations for agents and attorneys.

32. Suspension or exclusion from practice.

"33. Unauthorized representation as practitioner.

Ҥ31. Regulations for agents and attorneys

"The Commissioner may prescribe regulations governing the recognition and conduct of agents, attorneys, or other persons representing applicants or other persons before the Patent Office, and may require them, before being recognized as representatives of applicants or other persons, to show that they are of good moral character and reputation and are possessed of the necessary qualifications to render to applicants or other persons valuable service, advice, and assistance in the presentation or prosecution of their applications or other business before the Office.

"$32. Suspension or exclusion from practice

"The Commissioner may, pursuant to rules and regulations duly prescribed, suspend, or exclude, either generally or in any particular case, from further practice before the Office, any person, agent, or attorney shown to be incompetent or disreputable, or guilty of material misconduct, or who does not comply with the regulations established under section 31 of this chapter, or who shall by word, circular, letter, or advertising, with intent to defraud in any manner, deceive, mislead, or threaten any applicant or prospective applicant, or other person having immediate or prospective business before the Office. The reasons for any such suspension or exclusion shall be duly recorded. The United States District Court for the District of Columbia, under such conditions and upon such proceedings as it by its rules determines, may review the action of the Commissioner upon the petition of the person so suspended or excluded. "$33. Unauthorized representation as practitioner

"(a) Whoever, not being recognized to practice before the Patent Office

"(1) holds himself out or knowingly permits himself to be held out as so recognized, or

"(2) holds himself out or knowingly permits himself to be held out as available either to perform the service of preparing or prosecuting an application for patent or to provide such service to be performed by a person not so recognized or by an unidentified person, or

"(3) for compensation, either performs the service of preparing or prosecuting an application for patent for another not so recognized or provides such service to be performed by a person not so recognized or by an unidentified person,

shall be punished by imprisonment not exceeding one year, or a fine not exceeding $1,000 for each offense, or both.

"(b) Where an agent, attorney, or firm recognized to practice before the Patent Office assumes responsibility for the service of preparing or prosecuting a patent application at the time such service is rendered, the service shall be considered as performed by such agent, attorney, or firm within the meaning of this section.

"(c) The district courts of the United States are empowered to issue injunetions forbidding any person guilty of conduct in violation of subsection (a) of this section from further violations and to enforce said injunctions at the suit of the Solicitor or any person injured or likely to be injured by the conduct enjoined, and any person bringing such suit may sue for the penalty prescribed by said subsection (a), in which even one-half shall go to the person suing and the other to the United States.

"Sec.

"41. Patent fees.

"CHAPTER 4.-PATENT OFFICE FEES

"42. Payment of fees; return of excess amounts.

"S41. Patent fees

"(a) The Commissioner shall prescribe by regulation the charges to be made for copies of records and publications and for services furnished by the Patent Office other than pursuant to part II of this title designed to effect a recovery in the range of 90 to 110 per centum of the cost to the Patent Office of the copies and services so furnished.

(b) The Commissioner shall prescribe by regulation the fees to be paid in connection with the filing and examination of patent applications, the issuance and maintenance in force of patents, and other matters set forth in part II of this title as requiring a fee designed together with the fees prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, to effect an overall recovery in the range of 65 to 75 per centum of the costs of operation of the Patent Office.

"(c) Fees prescribed by the Commissioner pursuant to subsection (b) of this section shall be in multiples of a fee unit amount fixed by the Commissioner to accomplish the purpose of that subsection while maintaining the relative amounts of particular fees as hereinafter prescribed in part II of this title.

"(d) The Commissioner shall prescribe by regulation, consistent with the provisions of this title, the time for payment of the fees to be paid under this title. If payment of the fees in connection with the examination, publication, or issuance of a patent application is not timely made, the application shall be regarded as abandoned. An applicant shall be given at least thirty days following notice of a fee due pursuant to section 137 or 141 of this title in which to pay the fee. Errors in payment of fees may be rectified in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Commissioner.

"(e) The fees established under the authority of this section shall apply to any other Government department or agency, or officer thereof, except that the Commissioner may waive the payment of any fee for service or materials in cases of occasional or incidental requests by a Government department or agency, or officer thereof.

"(f) The Commissioner may prescribe by regulation when copies of Patent Office records and publications may be provided without charge, or at reduced or nominal fees, or in exchange for records or publications of foreign countries.

"$42. Payments of fees; return of excess amounts

"All fees shall be paid to the Commissioner, who shall deposit the same in the Treasury of the United States in such manner as the Secretary of the Treasury directs, and the Commissioner may refund any sum paid by mistake or in excess of the fee required.

"Sec.

"100. Definitions.

"CHAPTER 10. PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS

101. Right to patent; inventions patentable.

"102. Conditions for patentability; novelty and non-obvious subject matter. "103. Conditions for patentability; recovery of right to patent.

"PART II-PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS AND GRANT OF PATENTS

"17. Secrecy and Filing Applications in Foreign Countries

"18. Amendment and Correction of Patent Rights

"$100. Definitions

"When used in this title unless the context otherwise indicates"(a) The term 'invention' includes both invention and discovery.

Sec.

100

111

131

141

151

161

171

181

191

"(b) The term 'process' includes process, art, and method and a new process includes a new use of a known process, machine, manufacture, composition of matter, or material.

"(c) The terms 'United States' and 'this country' denote the United States of America, its territories and possessions, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and vessels, aircraft, and vehicles of the United States wherever located. “(d) The term ‘applicant' means any person who has filed or who owns an application for patent as provided in this title.

(e) The term 'regular worker in the art' includes only persons having ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter of an invention pertains.

"(f) The term 'knowledge of the art' means information known to the regular workers in the art in the United States or available to those regular workers as a reasonable consequence of a disclosure in tangible form or of a use or a placing on sale anywhere in the world.

"(g) The term 'effective filing date' means the date upon which a complete United States application was filed or the earliest date upon which any United States or foreign application referred to therein and forming the basis for any valid claim of priority therefor was filed, whichever is earlier. A complete application or the resulting patent may contain separate claims for subject matter having different effective filing dates.

"(h) The term 'prior art' means the knowledge of the art prior to the effective filing date of patent application, and the disclosure in a United States patent or published complete application becomes prior art as of its effective filing date.

"(i) The term 'patentee' includes not only the person to whom the patent is issued but also the successors in title to such person.

"(j) The term 'useful' includes, but is not limited to, utility in agriculture, commerce, industry, medicine, or research into any of them.

"(k) An ‘approved deposit' shall be a deposit of a microorganism which:

"(1) is made in any public depository in the United States which shall have been designated for such deposits by the Commissioner by publication, and

"(2) is available to the public, except as otherwise prohibited by law, in accordance with such regulations as may be prescribed upon the publication of the complete application which refers to such deposit.

"§101. Right to patent; inventions patentable

"Any invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement of an existing process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, may be the subject of a patent granted pursuant to the conditions and requirements of this title.

"$102. Conditions for patentability; novelty and nonobvious subject matter "A person claiming ownership of an invention shall be entitled to a patent therefor unless

"(a) The invention was disclosed in the prior art, or

"(b) Although not identically disclosed in the prior art, the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and the prior art are such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious on the effective filing date of the patent application to a regular worker in the art. Patentabil

ity shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. Inventions of a new combination of known mechanical or other elements shall be subject to the same conditions for patentability as are applied to inventions of other types of subject matter.

"§103. Conditions for patentability; recovery of right to patent

"Information in the prior art solely as a consequence of disclosure derived from the applicant for a patent or his predecessor in title to the invention shall not negative the patentability of the invention if otherwise patentable upon a complete application filed within twelve months after such disclosure.

"Sec.

"CHAPTER 11.-APPLICATION FOR PATENT

"111. Application for patent.

"112. Complete specification.

"113. Drawings.

"114. Models, specimens.

"115. Statement of claim of ownership.

"116. Preliminary disclosure.

"117. Benefit of earlier filing in foreign country; right of priority. "118. Benefit of earlier filing in the United States.

"119. Divisional applications.

"120. Confidential status, publication, and abandonment of applications. "§111. Application for patent

"Application for patent shall be made in writing to the Commissioner by a person claiming ownership of the invention. Such application, if a complete application, shall include: (1) a complete specification as prescribed by section 112 of this title; (2) a drawing as prescribed by section 113 of this title; and (3) a statement of claim of ownership as prescribed by section 115 of this title. The complete application must be signed by the applicant, or on behalf of applicant by a person regularly authorized to practice before the Patent Office, and be accompanied by a fee of two fee units. Such application, if a preliminary application, shall include (1) a preliminary disclosure as prescribed by section 116 of this title and (2) a statement of claim of ownership as prescribed by section 115 of this title. The preliminary application must be signed by the applicant, or by any person authorized to act on his behalf who shall, unless he is a person regularly authorized to practice before the Patent Office, state under oath the source of his authority, and be accompanied by a fee of one fee unit.

"§112. Complete specification

"(a) The specification shall contain: (i) a description of the invention; (ii) a claim or claims; and (iii) an abstract.

"(b) The description shall disclose the invention in a manner sufficiently clear and complete for the invention to be carried out by a regular worker in the art. When the invention relates to a process involving the action of a microorganism not already known and available to the public or to a production of such a process, the description required by subsection (b) of this section shall be sufficient as to said microorganism, if:

"(1) not later than the date that the complete application is filed, an approved deposit of a culture of the microorganism is made by or on behalf of the applicant or his predecessor in title, and

"(2) the description includes the name of the depository and its designation of the approved deposit and, taken as a whole, is in such descriptive terms as to enable any regular worker in the art to carry it out. "(c) The claim or claims shall define the matter for which protection is sought. Claims shall be clear and concise. They shall be fully supported by the description.

"A basic claim is a claim to subject matter which may be used independently of the subject matter of any other claim. Basic claims shall be written in independent form and other claims in dependent form. A claim in dependent form shall be construed to include all the limitations of a claim or claims incorporated by reference into the dependent claim.

"An element in a claim for a combination of elements may be expressed as a means or step for performing its function without the recital of structure,