[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: 37CFR1.48]

[Page 33-34]
 
             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 B--National Processing Provisions
 
Sec. 1.48  Correction of inventorship in a patent application, other than a reissue application.

    (a) If the inventive entity is set forth in error in an executed 
Sec. 1.63 oath or declaration in an application, other than a reissue 
application, and such error arose without any deceptive intention on the 
part of the person named as an inventor in error or on the part of the 
person who through error was not named as an inventor, the application 
may be amended to name only the actual inventor or inventors. When the 
application is involved in an interference, the amendment must comply 
with the requirements of this section and must be accompanied by a 
motion under Sec. 1.634. Such amendment must be accompanied by:
    (1) A petition including a statement from each person being added as 
an inventor and from each person being deleted as an inventor that the 
error in inventorship occurred without deceptive intention on his or her 
part;
    (2) An oath or declaration by the actual inventor or inventors as 
required by Sec. 1.63 or as permitted by Secs. 1.42, 1.43 or 1.47;
    (3) The fee set forth in Sec. 1.17(i); and
    (4) If an assignment has been executed by any of the original named 
inventors, the written consent of the assignee (see Sec. 3.73(b)).
    (b) If the correct inventors are named in a nonprovisional 
application, other than a reissue application, and the prosecution of 
the application results in the amendment or cancellation of claims so 
that fewer than all of the currently named inventors are the actual 
inventors of the invention being claimed in the application, an 
amendment must be filed deleting the name or names of the person or 
persons who are not inventors of the invention being claimed. When the 
application is involved in an interference, the amendment must comply 
with the requirements of this section and must be accompanied by a 
motion under Sec. 1.634. Such amendment must be accompanied by:
    (1) A petition including a statement identifying each named inventor 
who is being deleted and acknowledging that the inventor's invention is 
no longer being claimed in the application; and
    (2) The fee set forth in Sec. 1.17(i).
    (c) If a nonprovisional application, other than a reissue 
application, discloses unclaimed subject matter by an inventor or 
inventors not named in the application, the application may be amended 
to add claims to the subject matter and name the correct inventors for 
the application. When the application is involved in an interference, 
the amendment must comply with the requirements of this section and must 
be accompanied by a motion under Sec. 1.634. Such amendment must be 
accompanied by:
    (1) A petition including a statement from each person being added as 
an inventor that the amendment is necessitated by amendment of the 
claims and that the inventorship error occurred without deceptive 
intention on his or her part;
    (2) An oath or declaration by the actual inventor or inventors as 
required by Sec. 1.63 or as permitted by Secs. 1.42, 1.43 or 1.47;
    (3) The fee set forth in Sec. 1.17(i); and
    (4) If an assignment has been executed by any of the original named 
inventors, the written consent of the assignee (see Sec. 3.73(b)).
    (d) If the name or names of an inventor or inventors were omitted in 
a provisional application through error without any deceptive intention 
on the part of the omitted inventor or inventors, the provisional 
application may be amended to add the name or names of the omitted 
inventor or inventors. Such amendment must be accompanied by:

[[Page 34]]

    (1) A petition including a statement that the inventorship error 
occurred without deceptive intention on the part of the omitted inventor 
or inventors; and
    (2) The fee set forth in Sec. 1.17(q).
    (e) If a person or persons were named as an inventor or inventors in 
a provisional application through error without any deceptive intention 
on the part of such person or persons, an amendment may be filed in the 
provisional application deleting the name or names of the person or 
persons who were erroneously named. Such amendment must be accompanied 
by:
    (1) A petition including a statement by the person or persons whose 
name or names are being deleted that the inventorship error occurred 
without deceptive intention on the part of such person or persons;
    (2) The fee set forth in Sec. 1.17(q); and
    (3) If an assignment has been executed by any of the original named 
inventors, the written consent of the assignee (see Sec. 3.73(b)).
    (f)(1) If the correct inventor or inventors are not named on filing 
a nonprovisional application under Sec. 1.53(b) without an executed oath 
or declaration under Sec. 1.63, the later submission of an executed oath 
or declaration under Sec. 1.63 during the pendency of the application 
will act to correct the earlier identification of inventorship.
    (2) If the correct inventor or inventors are not named on filing a 
provisional application without a cover sheet under Sec. 1.51(c)(1), the 
later submission of a cover sheet under Sec. 1.51(c)(1) during the 
pendency of the application will act to correct the earlier 
identification of inventorship.
    (g) The Office may require such other information as may be deemed 
appropriate under the particular circumstances surrounding the 
correction of inventorship.

[62 FR 53185, Oct. 10, 1997]

                             The Application