[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR1.12]

[Page 22]
 
              TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
 
  CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                                COMMERCE
 
PART 1--RULES OF PRACTICE IN PATENT CASES--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart A--General Provisions
 
Sec. 1.12  Assignment records open to public inspection.

    (a)(1) Separate assignment records are maintained in the United 
States Patent and Trademark Office for patents and trademarks. The 
assignment records, relating to original or reissue patents, including 
digests and indexes (for assignments recorded on or after May 1, 1957), 
published patent applications, and assignment records relating to 
pending or abandoned trademark applications and to trademark 
registrations (for assignments recorded on or after January 1, 1955), 
are open to public inspection at the United States Patent and Trademark 
Office, and copies of those assignment records may be obtained upon 
request and payment of the fee set forth in Sec. 1.19 and Sec. 2.6 of 
this chapter.
    (2) All records of assignments of patents recorded before May 1, 
1957, and all records of trademark assignments recorded before January 
1, 1955, are maintained by the National Archives and Records 
Administration (NARA). The records are open to public inspection. 
Certified and uncertified copies of those assignment records are 
provided by NARA upon request and payment of the fees required by NARA.
    (b) Assignment records, digests, and indexes relating to any pending 
or abandoned patent application which has not been published under 35 
U.S.C. 122(b) are not available to the public. Copies of any such 
assignment records and related information shall be obtainable only upon 
written authority of the applicant or applicant's assignee or attorney 
or agent or upon a showing that the person seeking such information is a 
bona fide prospective or actual purchaser, mortgagee, or licensee of 
such application, unless it shall be necessary to the proper conduct of 
business before the Office or as provided in this part.
    (c) Any request by a member of the public seeking copies of any 
assignment records of any pending or abandoned patent application 
preserved in confidence under Sec. 1.14, or any information with respect 
thereto, must:
    (1) Be in the form of a petition including the fee set forth in Sec. 
1.17(h); or
    (2) Include written authority granting access to the member of the 
public to the particular assignment records from the applicant or 
applicant's assignee or attorney or agent of record.
    (d) An order for a copy of an assignment or other document should 
identify the reel and frame number where the assignment or document is 
recorded. If a document is identified without specifying its correct 
reel and frame, an extra charge as set forth in Sec. 1.21(j) will be 
made for the time consumed in making a search for such assignment.

(35 U.S.C. 6; 15 U.S.C. 1113, 1123)

[47 FR 41272, Sept. 17, 1982, as amended at 54 FR 6900, Feb. 15, 1989; 
56 FR 65151, Dec. 13, 1991; 56 FR 66670, Dec. 24, 1991; 57 FR 29641, 
July 6, 1992; 60 FR 20221, Apr. 25, 1995; 61 FR 42802, Aug. 19, 1996; 65 
FR 54657, Sept. 8, 2000; 65 FR 57051, Sept. 20, 2000]