[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: 37CFR1.5]

[Page 15-16]
 
              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. 1.5  Identification of application, patent or registration.

    (a) No correspondence relating to an application should be filed 
prior to receipt of the application number from the Patent and Trademark 
Office. When a letter directed to the Patent and Trademark Office 
concerns a previously filed application for a patent, it must identify 
on the top page in a conspicuous location, the application number 
(consisting of the series code and the serial number; e.g., 07/123,456), 
or the serial number and filing date assigned to that application by the 
Patent and Trademark Office, or the international application number of 
the international application. Any correspondence not containing such 
identification will be returned to the sender where a return address is 
available. The returned correspondence will be accompanied by a cover 
letter which will indicate to the sender that if the returned 
correspondence is resubmitted to the Patent and Trademark Office within 
two weeks of the mailing date on the cover letter, the original date of 
receipt of the correspondence will be considered by the Patent and 
Trademark Office as the date of receipt of the correspondence. 
Applicants may use either the Certificate of Mailing or Transmission 
procedure under Sec. 1.8 or the Express Mail procedure under Sec. 1.10 
for resubmissions of returned correspondence if they desire to have the 
benefit of the date of deposit with the United States Postal Service. If 
the returned correspondence is not resubmitted within the two-week 
period, the date of receipt of the resubmission will

[[Page 16]]

be considered to be the date of receipt of the correspondence. The two-
week period to resubmit the returned correspondence will not be 
extended. In addition to the application number, all letters directed to 
the Patent and Trademark Office concerning applications for patents 
should also state the name of the applicant, the title of the invention, 
the date of filing the same, and, if known, the group art unit or other 
unit within the Patent and Trademark Office responsible for considering 
the letter and the name of the examiner or other person to which it has 
been assigned.
    (b) When the letter concerns a patent other than for purposes of 
paying a maintenance fee, it should state the number and date of issue 
of the patent, the name of the patentee, and the title of the invention. 
For letters concerning payment of a maintenance fee in a patent, see the 
provisions of Sec. 1.366(c).
    (c)(1) A letter about a trademark application should identify the 
serial number, the name of the applicant, and the mark.
    (2) A letter about a registered trademark should identify the 
registration number, the name of the registrant, and the mark.
    (d) A letter relating to a reexamination proceeding should identify 
it as such by the number of the patent undergoing reexamination, the 
reexamination request control number assigned to such proceeding and, if 
known, the group art unit and name of the examiner to which it has been 
assigned.
    (e) When a paper concerns an interference, it should state the names 
of the parties and the number of the interference. The name of the 
examiner-in-chief assigned to the interference (Sec. 1.610) and the name 
of the party filing the paper should appear conspicuously on the first 
page of the paper.
    (f) When a paper concerns a provisional application, it should 
identify the application as such and include the application number.

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

[24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959, as amended at 46 FR 29181, May 29, 1981; 49 
FR 552, Jan. 4, 1984; 49 FR 48451, Dec. 12, 1984; 53 FR 47807, Nov. 28, 
1988; 58 FR 54501, Oct. 22, 1993;61 FR 42802, Aug. 19, 1996; 61 FR 
56446, Nov. 1, 1996; 64 FR 48917, Sept. 8, 1999]