[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 1999]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR1.14]

[Page 20-21]
 
             TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
 
    CHAPTER I--PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
 
PART 1--RULES OF PRACTICE IN PATENT CASES--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart A--General Provisions
 
Sec. 1.14  Patent applications preserved in confidence.

    (a) Patent applications are generally preserved in confidence 
pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 122. No information will be given concerning the 
filing, pendency, or subject matter of any application for patent, and 
no access will be given to, or copies furnished of, any application or 
papers relating thereto, except as set forth in this section.
    (1) Status information includes information such as whether the 
application is pending, abandoned, or patented, as well as the 
application number and filing date (or international filing date or date 
of entry into the national stage).
    (i) Status information concerning an application may be supplied:
    (A) When copies of, or access to, the application may be provided 
pursuant to paragraph (a)(3) of this section;
    (B) When the application is identified by application number or 
serial number and filing date in a published patent document or in a 
U.S. application open to public inspection; or
    (C) When the application is the national stage of an international 
application in which the United States of America has been indicated as 
a Designated State.
    (ii) Status information concerning an application may also be 
supplied when the application claims the benefit of the filing date of 
an application for which status information may be provided pursuant to 
paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section.
    (2) Copies of an application-as-filed may be provided to any person, 
upon written request accompanied by the fee set forth in 
Sec. 1.19(b)(1), without notice to the applicant, if the application is 
incorporated by reference in a U.S. patent.
    (3) Copies of (upon payment of the fee set forth in 
Sec. 1.19(b)(2)), and access to, an application file wrapper and 
contents may be provided to any person, upon written request, without 
notice to the applicant, when the application file is available and:
    (i) It has been determined by the Commissioner to be necessary for 
the proper conduct of business before the Office or warranted by other 
special circumstances;
    (ii) The application is open to the public as provided in 
Sec. 1.11(b);
    (iii) Written authority in that application from the applicant, the 
assignee of the application, or the attorney or agent of record has been 
granted; or
    (iv) The application is abandoned, but not if the application is in 
the file jacket of a pending application under Sec. 1.53(d), and is:
    (A) Referred to in a U.S. patent;
    (B) Referred to in a U.S. application open to public inspection;
    (C) An application which claims the benefit of the filing date of a 
U.S. application open to public inspection; or
    (D) An application in which the applicant has filed an authorization 
to lay open the complete application to the public.
    (b) Complete applications (Sec. 1.51(a)) which are abandoned may be 
destroyed and hence may not be available for access or copies as 
permitted by paragraph (a)(3)(iv) of this section after 20 years from 
their filing date, except those to which particular attention has been 
called and which have been marked for preservation.
    (c) Applications for patents which disclose, or which appear to 
disclose, or which purport to disclose, inventions or discoveries 
relating to atomic energy are reported to the Department of Energy, 
which Department will be given access to such applications, but

[[Page 21]]

such reporting does not constitute a determination that the subject 
matter of each application so reported is in fact useful or an invention 
or discovery or that such application in fact discloses subject matter 
in categories specified by sections 151(c) and 151(d) of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, 68 Stat. 919; 42 U.S.C. 2181 (c) and (d).
    (d) Any decision of the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, 
or any decision of the Commissioner on petition, not otherwise open to 
public inspection shall be published or made available for public 
inspection if:
    (1) The Commissioner believes the decision involves an 
interpretation of patent laws or regulations that would be of important 
precedent value; and
    (2) The applicant, or any party involved in the interference, does 
not within one month after being notified of the intention to make the 
decision public, object in writing on the ground that the decision 
discloses a trade secret or other confidential information.

If a decision discloses such information, the applicant or party shall 
identify the deletions in the text of the decision considered necessary 
to protect the information. If it is considered the entire decision must 
be withheld from the public to protect such information, the applicant 
or party must explain why. Applicants or parties will be given time, not 
less than twenty days, to request reconsideration and seek court review 
before any portions of decisions are made public over their objection. 
See Sec. 2.27 for trademark applications.
    (e) Any request by a member of the public seeking access to, or 
copies of, any pending or abandoned application preserved in confidence 
pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, or any papers relating 
thereto, must:
    (1) Be in the form of a petition and be accompanied by the petition 
fee set forth in Sec. 1.17(i); or
    (2) Include written authority granting access to the member of the 
public in that particular application from the applicant or the 
applicant's assignee or attorney or agent of record.
    (f) Information as to the filing of an application will be published 
in the Official Gazette in accordance with Sec. 1.47(a) and (b).
    (g) Copies of an application file for which the United States acted 
as the International Preliminary Examining Authority, or copies of a 
document in such an application file, will be furnished in accordance 
with Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) Rule 94.2 or 94.3, upon payment of 
the appropriate fee (Sec. 1.19(b)(2) or Sec. 1.19(b)(3)).
    Note: See Sec. 1.612(a) for access by an interference party to a 
pending or abandoned application.

(Pub. L. 94-131, 89 Stat. 685; 35 U.S.C. 6, Pub. L. 97-247; 15 U.S.C. 
1113, 1123)

[42 FR 5593, Jan. 28, 1977, as amended at 43 FR 20462, May 11, 1978; 49 
FR 48451, Dec. 12, 1984; 50 FR 9378, Mar. 7, 1985; 54 FR 6900, Feb. 15, 
1989; 56 FR 55461, Oct. 28, 1991; 58 FR 54509, Oct. 22, 1993; 60 FR 
20221, Apr. 25, 1995; 61 FR 42802, Aug. 19, 1996; 62 FR 53182, Oct. 10, 
1997; 63 FR 29617, June 1, 1998]