35 U.S.C. § 4 — Restrictions on officers and employees as to interest in patents

submitted 74 years ago by ch. 950 to r/title-35-PATENTS · 81 words · no verdicts yet

in plain englishAI-generated · not legal advice

Officers and employees of the Patent and Trademark Office cannot apply for a patent, or gain any patent or patent interest (except by inheritance), while they work there and for one year after. Any patent they apply for later cannot claim a priority date earlier than one year after they leave.

While they hold their appointment, and for one year after it ends, officers and employees of the Patent and Trademark Office cannot apply for a patent, and cannot acquire — directly or indirectly, except by inheritance or bequest — any patent, or any right or interest in any patent, that the Office has issued or will issue. If they apply for a patent after that restriction ends, they still cannot claim a priority date earlier than one year after their appointment ended.

the actual law source: uscode.house.gov ↗public domain

Officers and employees of the Patent and Trademark Office shall be incapable, during the period of their appointments and for one year thereafter, of applying for a patent and of acquiring, directly or indirectly, except by inheritance or bequest, any patent or any right or interest in any patent, issued or to be issued by the Office. In patents applied for thereafter they shall not be entitled to any priority date earlier than one year after the termination of their appointment.

Source credit: (July 19, 1952, ch. 950, 66 Stat. 793; Pub. L. 93–596, § 1, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1949.)

history & why it existsrecord from the source credit

1952Enacted · Act of July 19, 1952, ch. 950 · 66 Stat. 793
1975Amended · Pub. L. 93-596 · 88 Stat. 1949

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

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