MPEP 500 Flashcards
What are three ways new applications can be delivered to the USPTO?
- US Postal Service
- hand carried to customer service window
- EFS-Web
Which documents cannot be delivered by fax?
(1) Correspondence requiring an original signature;
(2) Certified documents;
(3) Correspondence that cannot receive the benefit of the certificate of mailing or transmission;
(4) Color drawings;
(5) A request for reexamination or a request for supplemental examination;
(6) Correspondence to be filed in an application subject to a secrecy order and directly related to the secrecy order content of the application;
(7) In contested cases and trials before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
CFR 1.6(d)(3)
What type of application may be delivered by fax?
continued prosecution application
CFR 1.6(d)(3)
Which documents may be delivered by fax?
- CPAs (design applications only)
- amendments
- declarations
- petitions
- information disclosure statements (IDS)
- terminal disclaimers
- notices of appeal and appeal briefs
- requests for continued examination (RCEs)
- assignment documents
- issue fee transmittals and authorizations to charge deposit accounts.
MPEP 502.01
37 CFR 1.6(d)
What type of signatures are acceptable for a document that requires a signature?
- handwritten (original or copy)
2. S signature
Since each file must be (A), a (B) of every paper to be filed in a patent, patent file, or other proceeding must be furnished for each file to which the paper pertains, even though the contents of the papers filed in two or more files may be (C).
(A) complete in itself
(B) a separate copy
(C) identical.
37 CFR 1.4 (b)
What are two ways small entity status can be asserted?
- by writing.
- by payment of the small entity basic filing, basic transmittal, basic national fee, international search fee, or individual designation fee in an international design application.
MPEP 509.03
When does small entity status need to be redetermined for an existing application?
When the maintenance fees or issue fees are due.
37 CFR1.27(g)(1)
How does one remove small entity status?
A written assertion should be filed in the application or patent before or at the time of paying the earliest of the issue fee or any maintenance fee due after the date on which status as a small entity is no longer appropriate.
37 CFR1.27(g)(2)
How long does an applicant have, after paying a non-small entity fee, to request a refund if they later determine that they are a small entity?
Three months
How does an applicant correct a “good faith” error in claiming small entity status?
(1) Payment of deficiency owed.
(2) Itemization of the deficiency payment.
Steps one and two must be done for each patent application separately.
37 CFR 1.28
What are the two bases for establishing micro entity status?
(1) gross income basis
(2) institution of higher income basis
What type of organizations qualify as a small entity?
(1) Small businesses with 500 or less employees
(2) inventor(s)
(3) non-profits
And to qualify as a small entity, an organization or inventor(s) has not assigned, granted, conveyed, or licensed, and is under no obligation under contract or law to assign, grant, convey, or license, any rights in the invention to any person, concern, or organization which would not qualify as a person, small business concern, or a nonprofit organization.
MPEP 509.02
What are the qualifications for micro entity status under the gross income basis?
(1) The applicant qualifies as a small entity
(2) Neither the applicant nor the inventor nor a joint inventor has been named as the inventor or a joint inventor on more than four previously filed patent applications, other than applications filed in another country, provisional applications under 35U.S.C. 111(b), or international applications for which the basic national fee under 35 U.S.C. 41(a)was not paid
(3) Neither the applicant nor the inventor nor a joint inventor, in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the applicable fee is being paid, had a gross income exceeding three times the median household income for that preceding calendar year
(4) Neither the applicant nor the inventor nor a joint inventor has assigned, granted, or conveyed, nor is under an obligation by contract or law to assign, grant, or convey, a license or other ownership interest in the application concerned to an entity that, in the calendar year preceding the calendar year in which the applicable fee is being paid, had a gross income exceeding three times the median household income for that preceding calendar year.
37 CFR 1.29(a)
What are the qualifications for micro entity status under the institution of higher income basis?
(1) The applicant qualifies as a small entity
(2)(i) The applicant’s employer, from which the applicant obtains the majority of the applicant’s income, is an institution of higher education
or(ii) The applicant has assigned, granted, conveyed, or is under an obligation by contract or law, to assign, grant, or convey, a license or other ownership interest in the particular application to such an institution of higher education.
37 CFR 1.29(d)
