late upon petition to the Commissioner accompanied by a petition fee and a verified statement provided the delay does not exceed three months. (f) The prosecution of an application for patent must be conducted in writing and the personal attendance of applicants is not required and is unnecessary. Applicants may arrange for interviews with examiners at such times within office hours as the examiners may designate. (g) An applicant for a patent may prosecute his own case, but he is entitled to be, and usually is, represented by an attorney or agent. No person may represent applicants before the Patent Office unless he is registered in the Patent Office as an attorney or agent, or authorized and recognized to prosecute a particular case. RULES OF PRACTICE The following rules governing the practice and procedure in the Patent Office with respect to applications for patent and related matters, and the recognition of attorneys and agents, were initially adopted and promulgated, effective March 1, 1949, after publication of proposed rules and a public hearing, and consideration of the material and arguments submitted, and have been amended from time to time since that date. The present edition contains the amendments effective January 1, 1953, which were made in view of the new patent law, Public Law 593, 82d Congress, 2d session, chapter 950, 66 Stat. 792, and subsequent amendments to January 1, 1970. These rules and the various amendments were published in the Federal Register. In the Federal Register and in the Code of Federal Regulations these rules are part 1 of Title 37, Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights, and the individual rules, there called sections, are numbered with the part number and a decimal point prefixed to the numbers to the rules here used; thus section 1.33 in the Federal Register and Code of Federal Regulations is here termed rule 33. The complete arrangement of all the Patent Office rules in the Code of Federal Regulations is as follows: Title 37-Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights Chapter 1-Patent Office, Department of Commerce Part 1-Rules of Practice in Patent Cases Part 2-Rules of Practice in Trademark Cases Part 3-Forms for Patent Cases Part 4-Forms for Trademark Cases Part 5-Secrecy of Certain Inventions and Licenses to File Applications in Foreign Countries Part 6 Classification of Goods and Services Under the Trademark Act Part 7-Register of Government Interest in Patents GENERAL INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE 1. All communications to be addressed to Commissioner of Patents. All letters and other communications intended for the Patent Office must be addressed to "Commissioner of Patents," Washington, D.C., 20231. When appropriate, a letter may be marked for the attention of a particular officer or individual. NOTE: Rules 1 to 26 are applicable to trademark cases as well as to patent cases except for provisions specifically directed to patents. 2. Business to be transacted in writing. All business with the Patent Office should be transacted in writing. The personal attendance of applicants or their attorneys or agents at the Patent Office is unnecessary. The action of the Patent Office will be based exclusively on the written record in the Office. No attention will be paid to any alleged oral promise, stipulation, or understanding in relation to which there is disagreement or doubt. 3. Business to be conducted with decorum and courtesy. Applicants and their attorneys or agents are required to conduct their business with the Patent Office with decorum and courtesy. Papers presented in violation of this requirement will be submitted to the Commissioner and will be returned by his direct order. Complaints against examiners and other employees must be made in communications separate from other papers. 4. Nature of correspondence. (a) Correspondence with the Patent Office comprises (1) correspondence relating to services and facilities of the Office, such as general inquiries, requests for publications supplied by the Office, orders for printed copies of patents or trademark registrations, orders for copies of records, transmission of assignments for recording, and the like, and (2) correspondence in and relating to a particular application or other proceeding in the Office. See particularly the rules relating to the filing and prosecution of applications or other proceedings (patent rules 31 to 352 and trademark rules 2.11 to 2.189). (b) Since each application file should be complete in itself, a separate copy of every paper to be filed in an application should be furnished for each application to which the paper pertains, even though the contents of the papers filed in two or more applications may be identical. (c) Since different matters may be considered by different branches or sections of the Patent Office, each distinct subject, inquiry or order should be contained in a separate letter to avoid confusion and delay in answering letters dealing with different subjects. (a) 5. Identification of application, patent or registration. When a letter concerns an application for patent, it should state the 3. In design cases: "a. On filing each design application, $20. "b. On issuing each design patent: For three years and six months, $10; for seven years. $20; and for fourteen years, $30. 4. On filing each application for the reissue of a patent, $65; in addition, on filing or on presentation at any other time, $10 for each claim in independent form which is in excess of the number of independent claims of the original patent, and $2 for each claim (whether independent or dependent) which is in excess of ten and also in excess of the number of claims of the original patent. Errors in payment of the additional fees may be rectified in accordance with regulations of the Commissioner. 5. On filing each disclaimer, $15. 6. On appeal for the first time from the examiner to the Board of Appeals, $50; in addition, on filing a brief in support of the appeal, $50. 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, $15. 8. For certificate under section 255 or under section 256 of this title, $15. 9. As available and if in print: For uncertified printed copies of specifications and drawings of patents (except design patents), 50 cents per copy; for design patents, 20 cents per copy, the Commissioner may establish a charge not to exceed $1 per copy for patents in excess of twenty-five pages of drawings and specifications and for plant patents printed in color; special rates for libraries specified in section 13 of this title, $50 for patents issued in one year. The Commissioner may, without charge, provide applicants with copies of specifications and drawings of patents when referred to in a notice under section 132. 10. For recording every assignment, agreement, or other paper relating to the property in a patent or application, $20; where the document relates to more than one patent or application, $3 for each additional item. 11. For each certificate, $1. (b) The Commissioner may establish charges for copies of records, publications, or services furnished by the Patent Office, not specfiied above. (c) The fees prescribed by or under 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 services or materials in cases of occasional or incidental requests by a Government department or agency, or officer thereof. NOTE: The Official Gazette and other publications in the following list are sold, and the prices therefor established, by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 20402, to whom all communications respecting the same should be addressed (except with respect to items indicated as supplied by the Patent Office also). Classification Definitions published from time to time (also supplied by the Patent Office), price varies for different numbers, according to size, minimum price 10 cents. Directory of Registered Patent Attorneys and Agents Arranged by States and Countries_____ 1.50 Manual of Classification, domestic $17.00 per annum, foreign $21.75. Trademark Rules of Practice of the Patent Office with forms and statutes_ 0.60 General Information Concerning Patents---- 0.30 General Information Concerning Trademarks--- 0.35 Patents and Inventions-An Information Aid for Inventors.. 0.15 The Story of the United States Patent Office___. 0.20 22. Fees payable in advance. Fees and charges payable to the Patent Office are required to be paid in advance, that is, at the time of making application for any action by the Office for which a fee or charge is payable. 23. Method of payment. All payments of money required for Patent Office fees should be made in United States specie, Treasury notes, national bank notes, post office money orders, or by certified checks. If sent in any other form, the Office may delay or cancel the credit until collection is made. Money orders and checks must be made payable to the Commissioner of Patents. Remittances from foreign countries must be payable and immediately negotiable in the United States for the full amount of the fee required. Money sent by mail to the Patent Office will be at the risk of the sender; letters containing money should be registered. 24. Coupons. Coupons in denominations of twenty cents and fifty cents are sold by the Patent Office for the convenience of regular purchasers of United States patents, designs, and trademark registrations; these coupons may not be used for any other purpose. The twenty cent coupons are sold individually and in books of 50 with stubs for record for $10.00. The fifty cent coupons are sold individually and in pads of 10 for $5.00 and in books of 50 with stubs for record for $25.00. These coupons are good until used; they may be transferred but cannot be redeemed. NOTE: Public document coupons issued by the Superintendent of Documents cannot be used in the Patent Office, nor can the coupons issued by the Patent Office be used at the Government Printing Office or elsewhere. 25. Deposit accounts. (a) For the convenience of attorneys, agents and the general public, in ordering services offered by the Office, copies of records, etc., special deposit accounts may be established in the Patent Office. A minimum deposit of $50.00 or more, depending on the activity of the individual account, is required. At |