with readiness and accuracy the novelty of inventions for which applications for patent are filed. § 10. Certified copies of records The Commissioner may furnish certified copies of specifications and drawings of patents issued by the Patent Office, and of other records available either to the public or to the person applying therefor. § 11. Publications (a) The Commissioner may print, or cause to be printed, the following: 1. Patents, including specifications and drawings, together with copies of the same. The Patent Office may multigraph the headings of the drawings for patents for the purpose of photolithography. 2. Certificates of trade-mark registrations, including statements and drawings, together with copies of the same. 3. The Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office. 4. Annual indexes of patents and patentees, and of trade-marks and registrants. 5. Annual volumes of decisions in patent and trade-mark cases. 6. Pamphlet copies of the patent laws and rules of practice, laws and rules relating to trade-marks, and circulars or other publications relating to the business of the Office. (b) The Commissioner may exchange any of the publications specified in items 3, 4, 5, and 6 of subsection (a) of this section for publications desirable for the use of the Patent Office. § 12. Exchange of copies of patents with foreign countries The Commissioner may exchange copies of specifications and drawings of United States patents for those of foreign countries. § 13. Copies of patents for public libraries The Commissioner may supply printed copies of specifications and drawings of patents to public libraries in the United States which shall maintain such copies for the use of the public, at the rate for each year's issue established for this purpose in section 41 (a) 9 of this title. §14. Annual report to Congress The Commissioner shall report to Congress annually the moneys received and expended, statistics concerning the work of the Office, and other information relating to the Office as may be useful to the Congress or the public. PROCEEDINGS IN THE PATENT OFFICE § 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 falls on Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday within the District of Columbia, the action may be taken, or the fee paid, on the next succeeding secular or business day. § 22. Printing of papers filed The Commissioner may require papers filed in the Patent Office to be printed or typewritten. § 23. Testimony in Patent Office cases The Commissioner may establish rules for taking affidavits and 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 affidavits and depositions. § 24. Subpoenas, witnesses The clerk of any United States court for the district wherein testimony is to be taken for use in any contested case in the Patent Office shall, upon the application of any party thereto, issue a subpoena 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 and affidavits, at the time and place stated in the subpoena. The provisions of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure relating to the attendance of witnesses and to the production of documents and things shall apply to contested cases in the Patent Office. Every witness subpoenaed and in attendance shall be allowed the fees and traveling expenses allowed to witnesses attending the United States district courts. A judge of a court whose clerk issued a subpoena may, on proof of the neglect or refusal of a witness, after being duly served with such subpoena, to appear, or after appearing, to testify, enforce obedience to the process or punish the disobedience as in other like cases. No witness shall be deemed guilty of contempt for disobeying such subpoena 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 subpoena; nor for refusing to disclose any secret matter except upon appropriate order of the court which issued the subpoena. PRACTICE BEFORE PATENT OFFICE § 31. Regulations for agents and attorneys The Commissioner, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, may prescribe regulations governing the recognition and conduct of agents, attorneys, or other persons representing applicants or other parties 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, 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, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, suspend or exclude, either generally or in any particular case, from further practice before the Patent Office, any person, agent, or attorney shown to be incompetent or disreputable, or guilty of gross misconduct, or who does not comply with the regulations established under section 31 of this title, or who shall, with intent to defraud, 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 refused recognition or so suspended or excluded. § 33. Unauthorized representation as practitioner Whoever, not being recognized to practice before the Patent Office, holds himself out or permits himself to be held out as so recognized, or as being qualified to prepare or prosecute applications for patent, shall be fined not more than $1,000 for each offense. § 41. Patent fees PATENT FEES (a) The Commissioner shall charge the following fees: 1. On filing each application for an original patent, except in design cases, $30, and $1 for each claim in excess of twenty. 2. On issuing each original patent, except in design cases, $30, and $1 for each claim in excess of twenty. 3. In design cases: For three years and six months, $10; for seven years, $15; for fourteen years, $30. 4. On every application for the reissue of a patent, $30 and $1 for each claim in excess of twenty over and above the number of claims of the original patent. 5. On filing each disclaimer, $10. 6. On an appeal for the first time from the examiner to the Board of Appeals, $25. 7. On filing each petition for the revival of an abandoned application for a patent or for the delayed payment of the fee for issuing each patent, $10. 8. For certificate of correction of applicant's mistake under section 205 of this title, $10. 9. For uncertified printed copies of specifications and drawings of patents (except design patents), 25 cents per copy; for design patents, 10 cents per copy; special rate for libraries specified in section 13 of this title, $50 for patents issued in one year. 10. For recording every assignment, agreement, or other paper not exceeding six pages, $3; for each additional two pages or less, $1; for each additional patent or application included in one writing, where more than one is so included, 50 cents additional. 11. For each certificate, $1. (b) The Commissioner may establish charges for copies of records, publications, or services furnished by the Patent Office, not specified above. § 42. Payment of patent fees; return of excess amounts All patent 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 by law. CHAPTER 2-PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS AND GRANT OF PATENTS Sec. 100. Definitions. DEFINITIONS PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS 101. Inventions patentable. 102. Conditions for patentability: novelty and loss of right to patent. 103. Conditions for patentability; non-obvious subject matter. 104. Invention made abroad. APPLICATION FOR PATENT 111. Application for patent. 112. Specification. 113. Drawings. 114. Models, specimens. 115. Oath of applicant. 116. Joint inventors. 117. Death or incapacity of inventor. 118. Filing by other than inventor. 119. Benefit of earlier filing date in foreign country; right of priority. 120. Benefit of earlier filing date in the United States. 121. Divisional applications. 122. Confidential status of applications. When used in this title unless the context otherwise indicates (a) The term "invention" includes discoveries. (b) The term "process" includes method, and a new use of a known process, machine manufacture, composition of matter or material. (c) The terms "United States" and "this country" mean the United States of America, its territories and possessions. (d) The word "patentee" includes not only the patentee to whom the patent was issued but also the successors in title to the patentee. PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS § 101. Inventions patentable Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title. § 102. Conditions for patentability; novelty and loss of right to patent A person shall be entitled to a patent unless (a) the invention was known or used by others in this country or patented or described in any printed publication in this or any foreign country, before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent, or (b) the invention was patented or described in any printed publication in this or any foreign country or in public use or on sale in this country, more than one year prior to the date of the application for patent in the United States, or (c) he has abandoned the invention, or (d) the invention was first patented or caused to be patented by the inventor or his legal representatives or assigns in a foreign country prior to the date of the application for patent in this country on an application filed more than six months in design cases or twelve months in other cases before the filing of the application in the United States, or (e) the invention was described in an application for patent by another filed in the United States before the invention thereof by the applicant for patent, which first-mentioned application issued as a patent, or (f) he did not himself invent the subject matter sought to be patented, or (g) before the applicant's invention thereof the invention was in fact made in this country by another who had not abandoned it and who was using reasonable diligence in this country in reducing it to practice or had reduced it to practice. § 103. Conditions for patentability; non-obvious subject matter A patent may not be obtained though the invention is not identically disclosed or described in the prior art set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the subject matter sought to be patented and that prior art such that the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains. Patentability shall not be negatived by the manner in which the invention was made. § 104. Invention made abroad In proceedings in the Patent Office and in the courts, an applicant for a patent, or a patentee, may not establish a date of invention by reference to knowledge or use thereof, or other activity with respect thereto, in a foreign country, except as provided in section 119 of this title. Where an invention was made by a person, civil, or military, while domiciled in the United States and serving in a foreign country in connection with operations by or on behalf of the United States, he shall be entitled to the same rights of priority with respect to such invention as if the same had been made in the United States. APPLICATION FOR PATENT § 111. Application for patent Application for patent shall be made by the inventor, except as otherwise provided in this title, in writing to the Commissioner. Such application shall include: (1) a specification as prescribed by section 112 of this title; (2) a drawing as prescribed by section 113 of this title; and (3) an oath by the applicant as prescribed by section 115 of this title. The application must be signed by the applicant and accompanied by the fee required by law. § 112. Specification The specification shall contain a written description of the invention, and of the manner and process of making and using it, in such full, clear, concise, and exact terms as to enable any person skilled in the art to which it pertains, or with which it is most nearly connected, to make and use the same, and shall set forth the best mode contemplated by the inventor of carrying out his invention. The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention. An element in a claim for a combination may be expressed as a means or step for performing a specified function without the recital of structure or acts in support thereof and such claim shall be construed to cover the corresponding structure, material, or acts described in the specification and equivalents thereof. § 113. Drawings When the nature of the case admits, the applicant shall furnish a drawing. § 114. Models, specimens The Commissioner may require the applicant to furnish a model of convenient size to exhibit advantageously the several parts of his invention. When the invention relates to a composition of matter, the Commissioner may require the applicant to furnish specimens or ingredients for the purpose of inspection or experiment. § 115. Oath of applicant The applicant shall make oath that he believes himself to be the original and first inventor of the process, machine, manufacture, or composition, or improvement thereof, for which he solicits a patent; and shall state of what country he is a citizen. Such oath may be made before any person within the United States authorized by law to administer oaths, or, when made in a foreign country, before any diplomatic or consular officer of the United States authorized to administer oaths, or before any officer having an official seal and authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country in which the applicant 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. When the application is made as provided in this title by a person other than the inventor, the oath may be so varied in form that it can be made by him. § 116. Joint inventors When an invention is made by two or more persons jointly, they shall apply for patent jointly and each sign the application and make the required oath, except as otherwise provided in this title. If a joint inventor refuses to join in an application for patent or cannot be found or reached after diligent effort, the application may be made by the other inventor on behalf of himself and the omitted inventor. The Commissicner, on proof of the pertinent facts and after such notice to the omitted inventor as he prescribes, may grant a patent to the inventor making the application, subject to the same rights which the omitted inventor would have had if he had been joined. The omitted inventor may subsequently join in the application. Whenever a person is joined in an application for patent as joint inventor through error, or a joint inventor is not included in an application through error, and such error arose without any deceptive intention, the Commissioner may permit the application to be amended accordingly, under such terms as he prescribes. § 117. Death or incapacity of inventor The Commissioner may receive applications of and issue patents to legal representatives of deceased inventors and of those under legal incapacity, upon compliance with the requirements and on the same terms and conditions applicable to the inventor. § 118. Filing by other than inventor Whenever an inventor refuses to execute an application for patent, or cannot be found or reached after diligent effort, a person to whom the inventor has assigned or agreed to assign the invention in writing, or who otherwise shows sufficient proprietary interest in the matter justifying such action, may make application for patent on behalf of and as agent for the inventor on proof of the pertinent facts and a showing that such action is necessary to preserve the rights of the parties or to prevent irreparable damage; and the Commissioner may grant a patent to such inventor upon such notice to him as the Commissioner deems sufficient, and on compliance with such regulations as he prescribes. § 119. Benefit of earlier filing date in foreign country; right of priority An application for patent for an invention filed in this country by any person who has, or whose legal representatives or assigns have, previously regularly filed an application for a patent for the same invention in a foreign country which affords similar privileges in the case of applications filed in the United States or to citizens of the United States, shall have the same effect as the same application would have if filed in this country on the date on which the application for patent for the same invention was first filed in such foreign country, if the application in this country is filed within twelve months from the earliest |