[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 37, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2008]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 37CFR41.6]

[Page 386]
 
              TITLE 37--PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, AND COPYRIGHTS
 
  CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF 
                                COMMERCE
 
PART 41_PRACTICE BEFORE THE BOARD OF PATENT APPEALS AND INTERFERENCES--Table of Contents
 
                      Subpart A_General Provisions
 
Sec. 41.6  Public availability of Board records.

    (a) Publication--(1) Generally. Any Board action is available for 
public inspection without a party's permission if rendered in a file 
open to the public pursuant to Sec. 1.11 of this title or in an 
application that has been published in accordance with Sec. Sec. 1.211 
to 1.221 of this title. The Office may independently publish any Board 
action that is available for public inspection.
    (2) Determination of special circumstances. Any Board action not 
publishable under paragraph (a)(1) of this section may be published or 
made available for public inspection if the Director believes that 
special circumstances warrant publication and a party does not, within 
two months after being notified of the intention to make the action 
public, object in writing on the ground that the action discloses the 
objecting party's trade secret or other confidential information and 
states with specificity that such information is not otherwise publicly 
available. If the action discloses such information, the party shall 
identify the deletions in the text of the action considered necessary to 
protect the information. If the affected party considers that the entire 
action must be withheld from the public to protect such information, the 
party must explain why. The party will be given time, not less than 
twenty days, to request reconsideration and seek court review before any 
contested portion of the action is made public over its objection.
    (b) Record of proceeding. (1) The record of a Board proceeding is 
available to the public unless a patent application not otherwise 
available to the public is involved.
    (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (b)(1) of this section, after a final 
Board action in or judgment in a Board proceeding, the record of the 
Board proceeding will be made available to the public if any involved 
file is or becomes open to the public under Sec. 1.11 of this title or 
an involved application is or becomes published under Sec. Sec. 1.211 
to 1.221 of this title.