Chapter 400: Representative of Inventor or Owner
Chapter 400 provides an overview of the individuals who are legally capable of helping an inventor file a patent application. The power of attorney and the withdrawal or revocation of the power of attorney are the focus of this chapter. This chapter also covers who will receive correspondence during the prosecution of an application.
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The Executive Summaries from the main chapter sections have been copied here for your convenience (subsections are not included here). They will help you remember what each main section of the Guidebook (MPEP) covers as you answer the questions from the quizzes above.
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.
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.
This section discusses interviews with a patent practitioner not of record. Papers may be filed in patent applications and reexamination proceedings by registered attorneys or agents not of record. Filing of such papers is considered to be a representation that the attorney or agent is authorized to act in a representative capacity on behalf of applicant.
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.
Any power of attorney given to a practitioner who has been suspended or disbarred by the Office is ineffective, and does not authorize the person to practice before the Office or to represent applicants or patentees in patent matters.
When applicant is initiating a request for an interview, an “Applicant Initiated Interview Request” form should be submitted to the examiner prior to the interview in order to permit the examiner to prepare in advance for the interview and to focus on the issues to be discussed.
This section covers instances where the inventor is unavailable including situations where they have died or are considered legally incapacitated.
This section covers the certifications a party is making when presenting any paper to the USPTO.
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