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Question:
Who has the authority to grant access to a pending or abandoned application filed on or after September 16, 2012 that is in confidence?
Answer:
For applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, the following individuals may provide a written authority for access to a pending or abandoned application kept in confidence:
- the applicant
- a patent practitioner of record
- the assignee or an assignee of an undivided part interest
- or an inventor
Chapter Details:
The answer to this question can be found in chapter 100 of the MPEP. This chapter covers Secrecy, Access, National Security, and Foreign Filing.
The answer is from the 9th Edition, Revision 07.2015. Depending on future changes to the MPEP, the question and answer may or may not be applicable in later Editions or revisions.
Section Summary:
This question and answer comes from section 104 of the MPEP. The following is a brief summary of section 104.
104 Power to Inspect Application
This section discusses who has the authority to grant access to applications. The authority to grant access is different for applications filed before and after September 16, 2012. This section also discusses who may access patent applications (both provisional and nonprovisional) and Board records.