37 CFR and Consolidated Patent Rules
37 CFR and Consolidated Patent Rules provides patent, trademark and copyright examining attorneys in the Patent and Trademark Office, trademark registration applicants, and attorneys and representatives for trademark registration applicants, with a reference work on the practices and procedures relative to prosecution of applications to register marks in the Patent and Trademark Office. The 37 CFR and Consolidated Patent Rules contains guidelines for Examining Attorneys and materials in the nature of information and interpretation, and outlines the procedures which Examining Attorneys are required or authorized to follow in the examination of patent, trademark and copyright applications.
Section 6 of Title 35 of the United States Code authorizes the Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Commerce, to establish regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the conduct of proceedings in the Patent and Trademark Office. The rules which govern the practices and procedures in the Patent and Trademark Office as they relate to the registration of marks are set forth in Title 37 CFR and consolidated patent rules which is available from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.
The trademark rules are a part of the Code of Federal Regulations, which is a codification of Federal regulations under the provisions of The Federal Register Act of 1937 and The Administrative Procedure Act of 1946. Rules relating to patents, trademarks and copyrights are codified in Title 37 CFR and consolidated patent rules.
The patent rules constitute Part 1 in Title 37 CFR and consolidated patent rules. In creating numbers for rules, the number of the appropriate Part in Title 37 CFR and consolidated patent rules is placed first, followed by a decimal point and then the number of the rule, so that, for example, Trademark Rule 2.56 is Rule 56 in Part 2 of Title 37 of the Code of Federal Regulations. In the Code of Federal Regulations itself, and in material published in the Federal Register, the rules are identified by the term "sections." Thus, section 2.56 in 37 CFR and consolidated patent rules is referred to as Trademark Rule 2.56.
The first twenty-six patent rules in 37 CFR and consolidated patent rules which pertain to general procedures, are made applicable to trademark cases by Trademark Rule 2.1 except for provisions specifically directed to patents. Rules and amendments to rules are published in the Federal Register and in the Official Gazette of the Patent and Trademark Office.
The primary function of the rules of practice in 37 CFR and consolidated patent rules is to advise the public of the regulations which have been established in accordance with the statutes and which must be followed before the Patent and Trademark Office.
|
