Power of Attorney
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Representative of Inventor or Owner |
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This section outlines the rules for an assignee to take action in an application filed before September 16, 2012. Items covered include the documents the owner or assignee (other than a juristic entity) can sign, establishing ownership, and the rules for continuing or divisional applications filed prior to September 16, 2012. In addition, this section also discusses RCE's, who may sign the submission establishing ownership, when ownership must be established, and when it need not be established. This section also discusses the topic of multiple assignees and conflicting assignment statements.
This section covers a few details about who may patent or aid an inventor in the patenting process.
Learn about selecting a power of attorney. An applicant may give power of attorney to one or more patent practitioners or one or more joint inventors.
This section also discusses conditions for registered practitioners, ineffective power of attorney details, who may sign the power of attorney and appointments in applications filed on or after September 16, 2012. Signature requirements are covered extensively in addition to the revocation of the power of attorney.
The applicant may revoke the power of attorney. These rules are different between applications filed on or after September 16, 2012 and before September 16, 2012. In addition to the application revoking the power of attorney, the attorney or agent may withdraw.
The assignee may also revoke the power of attorney with differences in the rules between applications filed on or after September 16, 2012 and those filed before September 16, 2012.
In addition, this section covers changes to the power of attorney during an interference or derivation proceeding. Lastly, the power of attorney generally requires a signature by all the applicants or owners of the application, but may be accepted with less if a petition is granted.
The Office no longer accepts a power of attorney signed by a principal to name an associate power of attorney. An appointment of an associate power of attorney filed on or after June 25, 2004 will not be accepted.
Revocation of a power of attorney becomes effective on the date that the revocation is RECEIVED in the Office (not on the date of ACCEPTANCE). Upon revocation of the power of attorney, appropriate notification is sent by the Office.
Any power of attorney (or revocation thereof) in an interference or derivation proceeding should be forwarded to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board for consideration.
In applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, any power of attorney must be signed by the applicant or patent owner. In applications filed before September 16, 2012, the assignee of record of the entire interest can revoke the power of attorney of the applicant unless an “irrevocable” right to prosecute the application had been given as in some government owned applications.
Papers giving or revoking a power of attorney in an application generally require signature by all the applicants or owners of the application. When a power of attorney (or revocation thereof) is signed by less than all applicants or owners, the change in power is not accepted until a petition under 37 CFR 1.36(a) or 1.183 is granted.
This section covers who correspondence will be held, what happens with a patent application is filed without a correspondence address, and customer number practice. When an attorney or agent has been duly appointed to prosecute an application, correspondence will be held with the attorney or agent unless some other correspondence address has been given.
Double correspondence with an applicant and his or her attorney, or with two representatives, will not be undertaken.
Upon the death of the sole practitioner of record, the power of attorney is terminated, and correspondence is mailed to the office of the deceased patent practitioner and to the party who originally appointed the deceased patent practitioner.
