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35 U.S.C. § 261 — Ownership; assignment

submitted 74 years ago by ch. 950 to r/title-35-PATENTS · 262 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

Patents count as personal property that can be bought, sold, or transferred in writing. The Patent and Trademark Office keeps a public record of who owns each patent. A transfer must be recorded within three months of its date. Otherwise it can lose out to a later buyer who didn't know about it.

Subject to the rest of this title, patents have the legal features of personal property. The Patent and Trademark Office must keep a register of who has an interest in each patent or patent application, and must record any related document on request, and may charge a fee for doing so. A patent application, patent, or any interest in one can be transferred - assigned - only through a written document. The applicant, patent owner, or their assignee or legal representative can likewise grant an exclusive right under the patent or application, covering all or part of the United States. A notarized certificate - signed and sealed by someone authorized to administer oaths in the United States, or by a U.S. diplomatic or consular officer abroad, or by a foreign officer whose authority a U.S. consular officer certifies, or an apostille from a country that gives U.S. apostilles the same treatment by treaty - counts as strong initial evidence that an assignment, grant, or transfer actually happened. A transfer of a patent or application is void against a later buyer or lender who paid value and didn't know about the earlier transfer, unless the earlier transfer was recorded with the Patent and Trademark Office within three months of its date, or before that later purchase or loan happened.
the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

Subject to the provisions of this title, patents shall have the attributes of personal property. The Patent and Trademark Office shall maintain a register of interests in patents and applications for patents and shall record any document related thereto upon request, and may require a fee therefor.

Applications for patent, patents, or any interest therein, shall be assignable in law by an instrument in writing. The applicant, patentee, or his assigns or legal representatives may in like manner grant and convey an exclusive right under his application for patent, or patents, to the whole or any specified part of the United States.

A certificate of acknowledgment under the hand and official seal of a person authorized to administer oaths within the United States, or, in a foreign country, of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States or an officer authorized to administer oaths whose authority is proved by a certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States, or apostille of an official designated by a foreign country which, by treaty or convention, accords like effect to apostilles of designated officials in the United States, shall be prima facie evidence of the execution of an assignment, grant or conveyance of a patent or application for patent.

An interest that constitutes an assignment, grant or conveyance shall be void as against any subsequent purchaser or mortgagee for a valuable consideration, without notice, unless it is recorded in the Patent and Trademark Office within three months from its date or prior to the date of such subsequent purchase or mortgage.

Source credit: (July 19, 1952, ch. 950, 66 Stat. 810; Pub. L. 93–596, § 1, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1949; Pub. L. 97–247, § 14(b), Aug. 27, 1982, 96 Stat. 321; Pub. L. 112–211, title II, § 201(d), Dec. 18, 2012, 126 Stat. 1535.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit
  • 1952Enacted · Act of July 19, 1952, ch. 950 · 66 Stat. 810
  • 1975Amended · Pub. L. 93-596 · 88 Stat. 1949
  • 1982Amended · Pub. L. 97-247 · 96 Stat. 321
  • 2012Amended · Pub. L. 112-211 · 126 Stat. 1535

A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by ch. 950 on 1952-07-19.

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