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"(c) There shall be no more than three Assistant Commissioners of the Patent Office, who shall be appointed by the Commissioner and who shall be compensated at a per annum rate of basic compensation fixed by him not in excess of the maximum scheduled rate provided for positions in grade 18 of the General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5104). Such Assistant Commissioners shall perform such functions as the Commissioner may from time to time assign or delegate. In the event of vacancies in the offices of Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, or their absence or disability, the Assistant Commissioner senior in date of appointment shall fill the office of Commissioner until said vacancies, absences, or disabilities terminate.

"(d) There shall in addition be an Assistant Commissioner of the Patent Office for Appeals, Litigation, and Public Counsel, referred to in this title as the 'Public Counsel', who shall be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The position of Public Counsel shall be in the competitive service, and the per annum rate of basic compensation therefor shall not exceed the maximum scheduled rate provided for positions in grade 18 of the General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5104). The Public Counsel shall assure an advocate, and through the adversary process, that high quality patents which meet the statutory and constitutional criteria therefor issue from the Patent Office. To that end he shall consider and review all proceedings in the Patent Office, and he or his delegates:

"(1) may intervene and participate at any time in any Patent Office proceeding, or appeal therefrom, when, in his discretion, it is necessary or appropriate to do so:

"(A) in the public interest to assure the integrity, strength, and reliability of a high quality patent system; or

"(B) in circumstances which indicate the public need to analyze or defend an important, new, or developing theory of law; or

"(C) in the case of important, new, or developing areas of technology; and

"(2) shall prosecute or defend appeals from any final action of the Patent Office; and

"(3) shall have all other rights and powers afforded parties under this title; and

"(4) shall take such other action, participate in such other proceedings, and conduct such other investigations or inquiries, as may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this title.

The Commissioner may also assign or delegate other duties to the Public Counsel, to the extent such assignment or delegation does not interfere with the responsibilities of the Public Counsel provided by this subsection. In all other respects, the Public Counsel shall be independent of the Commissioner in carrying out his responsibilities hereunder.

"(e) The Commissioner shall, subject to other requirements of law, appoint other officers and employees of the Patent Office, assign or delegate to them the functions of the Office, and fix the per annum rate of basic compensation therefor.

"$ 4. Restrictions on officers and employees as to interest in patents

"Officers and employees of the Patent Office shall be incapable, during the period of their appointments and for three years thereafter, of applying for a patent or, during such period and for three years thereafter, being named as an inventor in an application for patent for an invention made during such period or for three years thereafter and of acquiring, directly or indirectly, except by inheritance or bequest, any patent or any right or interest in any patent. issued or to be issued by the Office. Such applications for patent thereafter shall not be entitled to any priority date earlier than three years after the termination of the appointment of such officers and employees. "5. Board of Appeals

*(a) There shall be in the Office not to exceed twenty-four examiners-inchief, who shall be appointed under the competitive service, in the manner prescribed for Administrative Law Judges (5 U.S.C. 3105, 5362, 7521). The per annum rate of basic compensation of each examiner-in-chief shall be fixed at not in excess of the maximum scheduled rate provided for positions in grade 17 of the General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5104).

"(b) The examiners-in-chief shall constitute a Board of Appeals in the Patent Office. The examiners-in-chief shall be persons of competent legal knowledge and scientific ability, who will perform and exercise the judicial functions of the Office.

"(c) The Board of Appeals shall review all final orders (as that term is defined in 5 U.S.C. 551) of primary examiners and may review orders issued pursuant to section 23 of this title, except with respect to such matters relating to Office procedure which the Commissioner has by general rule or regulation assigned for determination by a single member of the Board of Appeals, who shall from time to time be designated by the examiner-in-chief senior in date of appointment. Except as otherwise provided in this title, the Board of Appeals shall exercise all judicial functions, including all agency review or appeals, under this title. The order of the Board of Appeals shall constitute final agency action (as that term is defined in 5 U.S.C. 551) in all matters considered by it, as shall the order of a single member in matters assigned for determination by him.

"(d) Each appeal or other action shall be heard or considered by a panel of at least three members of the Board of Appeals, except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of this section. Said panel shall be designated for each case by the examiner-in-chief senior in date of appointment, consistent with the provisions of section 3105, of title 5, United States Code. The Board of appeals has sole power to grant rehearings.

"(e) Whenever the Commission considers it necessary to maintain the work of the Board of Appeals current, he may designate any patent examiner of the primary examiner grade or higher having the requisite ability, to serve as examiner in chief for periods not exceeding six months each. An examiner so designated shall be qualified to act as a member of the Board of Appeals. Not more than one acting examiner in chief shall be a member of the panel of the Board of Appeals hearing any appeal or considering any case. The Commissioner is authorized to fix the per annum rate of basic compensation of each designated examiner in chief in the Patent Office at not in excess of the maximum scheduled rate provided for positions in grade 16 of the General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5104). The per annum rate of basic compensation of each designated examiner in chief shall be adjusted, at the close of the period for which he was designated to act as examiner in chief, to the per annum rate of basic compensation which he would have been receiving at the close of such period if such designation had not been made.

"§ 6. Library, classifications of patents, public search facilities

"(a) The Commissioner shall maintain a complete and current library of patents and scientific and other works and periodicals, both foreign and domestic, in the Patent Office which shall be available to its employees in the discharge of their duties under this title and to assist the public in the study of science and the useful arts.

"(b) The Commissioner shall establish liaison with all Government agencies in order to make available in the Patent Office library additional scientific, technological, and other works and periodicals. Such material or copies thereof shall be provided to the Office by such agencies without charge if the Commissioner so requests. Upon request, the Commissioner shall provide other Government agencies, without charge, with copies of specified documents maintained in the custody of the Office.

"(c) The Commissioner shall maintain with appropriate revisions a current publicly available classification and index by subject matter of published specifications of United States patents and of such other patents and applications, whether abandoned or published, and other scientific and other works and periodicals, both foreign and domestic, as may be necessary for the purpose of determining with readiness and accuracy the patentability of subject matter for which applications for patent are filed.

"(d) The Commissioner shall maintain public facilities, in various parts of the United States, for the searching of prior art and patent materials, both foreign and domestic. To the maximum extent feasible, such prior art and patent materials shall be complete and current. drawing upon all relevant scientific, technological, and other works and periodicals. both foreign and domestic, available to any Government agency. The Commissioner shall have such prior art and patent materials classified and indexed according to the classification of patents.

"(e) To the maximum extent feasible, the Commissioner shall mechanize, or otherwise facilitate by electrical, mechanical, or other appropriate means, the search of such prior art and patent materials. The Commissioner shall conduct an ongoing program of research and development to keep the handling, classification, storage, and retrieval of such prior art and patent material current and up to the state of the art.

"{ 7. Certified copies of records

"The Commissioner shall, upon payment of the prescribed fee, furnish certified copies of records of the Patent Office within thirty days to persons entitled thereto.

8. Publications

"(a) The Commissioner shall cause to be published in a timely fashion in such format as he determines to be suitable, the following:

"(1) the specifications and drawings of patents, and patent applications, subject to the provisions of this title;

**(2) certificates of trademark registrations, including statements and drawings;

“(3) complete and current annual volumes of all current decisions of the Patent Office Board of Appeals and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in patent and trademark cases;

"(4) current classification manuals and indices of the classifications of patents. "(b) The Commissioner may cause to be published, in such format as he determines to be suitable, the following:

"(1) Patent abstracts,

(2) The Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office,

(3) Annual indices of patents, published applications and of trademarks and information concerning the same,

"(4) Pamphlet copies of the patent laws and rules of practice, laws and rules relating to trademarks and circulars or other publications relating to the business Office.

"(e) The Commissioner may exchange any of the publications specified in subsections (a) and (b) of this section for publications desirable for the use of the Patent Office, and furnish copies of any of these publications to international intergovernmental organizations of which the United States is a member.

(d) The Commissioner may supply 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 prescribed by the Commissioner in accordance with section 41(a) of this title.

"(e) The Patent Office may print the headings of the drawings for patents for the purpose of photolithography.

"(f) The Commissioner may establish a public information service for the dissemination to the public of information concerning patents and trademarks, and may from time to time disseminate or provide for dissemination of public technological and other public information, the publication of which in his judgment would promote the progress of science and the useful arts. Such dissemination may be made by periodical or other publications, the preparation and display of exhibits, and other appropriate means.

Ҥ 9. Annual report to Congress

The Commissioner shall report to Congress annually the money received and expended, statistics concerning the work of the Office, an evaluation of the overall quality of the patents issued (including court decisions related to the validity and enforcement of patents), and other information relating to the Office as may be useful to the Congress or the public. Such statistics -hall evaluate current patterns (as well as historical development over time) of patent and trademark ownership, grouped by economic categories of ownership. significance and type of technology involved, and geographic origin. 10. Advisory Council on the Patent System

(a) There shall be an Advisory Council on the Patent System (referred to in this section as the 'Council') of not less than twelve nor more than twenty-four members to be appointed by the President, by and with the ad

vice and consent of the Senate, from the general public, without regard to the civil service laws, and to consist of persons representing each of the sectors affected by the patent system, including manufacturers, scientists, engineers, consumers, legal scholars, jurists or former jurists, and representatives of Federal agencies involved in the promotion of science and useful arts, the administration of the patent system, and the enforcement of Federal law. The President shall designate the Chairman of the Council and set the term of members.

"(b) It shall be the duty of the Council, on a continuing basis, to evaluate the effectiveness of the patent system in serving the public interest; to analyze the contemporary conditions and needs of the patent system; to study and appraise the methods and operations of the United States Patent Office including the quality of United States patents; and to report to the Commissioner and the Congress its conclusions and recommendations.

"(c) The Commissioner shall furnish to the Council such professional, secretarial, clerical, and other services and facilities as the Chairman of the Council deems necessary to the conduct of its business. The Chairman of the Council shall appoint an executive secretary, the basic rate of compensation for whom shall not exceed the maximum scheduled for positions in grade 15 of the General Schedule (5 U.S.C. 5104), and such compensation shall be charged to the appropriation of the Patent Office.

"Sec.

"CHAPTER 2.-PROCEEDINGS IN THE PATENT OFFICE

"21. Day for taking action falling on Saturday, Sunday, or holiday. "22. Form of papers filed.

"23. Issue of subpenas and other orders by Patent Office; review and enforcement.

"24. Issue of subpenas and other orders by Public Counsel.

"25. Oath and declaration in lieu of oath.

"26. Effect of defective execution.

" 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 on Saturday, Sunday, a holiday within the District of Columbia, or on any other 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. "§ 22. Form of papers filed.

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

"§ 23. Issue of subpenas and other orders by Patent Office; review and enforcement

"(a) Any party of record in any Patent Office proceeding may apply at any time to the primary examiner or other presiding official for subpenas or other orders to provide discovery, testimony, or evidence, and he shall issue the same ex parte. The primary examiner or any member of the Board of Appeals may also issue such subpenas or orders on his own motion, in any proceeding. Such subpenas and orders may issue against the applicant or any person within the jurisdiction of the United States, whether or not he is a party of record. "(b) (1) The Commissioner shall establish rules for taking such discovery, testimony, and evidence. Such rules shall provide the parties of record all discovery permitted, and the sanctions for noncompliance therewith prescribed, in the Federal courts pursuant to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as procedural necessities within the Office permit. Such rules shall provide, further, for the payment of witness fees and expenses as prescribed for proceedings in the district courts.

"(2) The Commissioner shall also establish rules governing inter partes proceedings by which subpenas and orders issued pursuant to subsection (a) of this section may be sustained, quashed, or modified.

"(e) (1) Agency action pursuant to subsections (a) and (b) of this section shall not be deemed final decisions or orders for the purposes of chapter 13 of this title. Judicial review of such orders may be had upon review of the

final decision or order in the entire proceeding, pursuant to chapter 13 of this title, or as may otherwise be required by sections 701-706 of title 5, United States Code. Judicial review of agency action pursuant to subsections (a) or (b) of this section may also be had in the course of a civil enforcement proceeding. Such proceeding may be by way of application by any party aggrieved by refusal or failure to comply with a subpena or order issued pursuant to subsections (a) or (b) of this section, to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, for an order to show cause why the person refusing or failing to comply with such subpena or order should not be commanded by the court to comply therewith.

"(2) The process of such district court for such purpose shall run throughout the United States and otherwise as provided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or any Federal statute.

*(3) Disobedience to any court order entered pursuant to this subsection shall be punishable as a contempt.

24. Issue of subpenas and other orders by Public Counsel

"(a) The Public Counsel may issue a subpena or order to any applicant, patentee, or any person within the jurisdiction of the United States, requiring him

"(1) to appear before a designated representative of the Office, in a nonadjudicative proceeding, to testify, produce documentary evidence, or produce other information or material; or

(2) to file reports or answers in writing to specific questions-relating to any matter under investigation or inquiry by the Public Counsel, or likely to lead to the production of information relating thereto, whether or not the subject matter of the investigation or inquiry may also be involved in any proceeding before a primary examiner or the Board of Appeals, or any other proceeding before any court or other tribunal.

"(b) Agency review of subpenas or orders issued pursuant to this section shall be before the Public Counsel, in accordance with such rules as the Patent Office may prescribe.

(c) In the case of disobedience to or failure to comply with such subpenas or orders, the Public Counsel may, in his discretion, seek enforcement thereof by the procedure specified in section 23 (c) of this chapter, and the procedures specified therein shall be applicable to subpenas and orders entered pursuant to this section. The Public Counsel or his delegate shall be authorized to appear before the court and institute any such proceeding pursuant to this subsection, notwithstanding any other provisions of law.

Ҥ 25. 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 otherwise required.

"(e) 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 (18 U.S.C. 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.

26. 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.

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