MPEP § 1502.02 — Design Patent Practitioner Bar

Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024 · last revised R-01.2024

Effective January 2, 2024, the USPTO created a separate design patent practitioner bar whereby admitted design patent practitioners would practice in design patent proceedings only. See Representation of Others in Design Patent Matters Before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, 88 FR 78644 (November 16, 2023). Expanding the admission criteria of the patent bar encourages broader participation and keeps up with the ever-evolving technology and related teachings that qualify someone to practice before the USPTO.

Design patent practitioners (attorneys and agents) have to pass the same registration exam and moral character evaluation as required for all patent practitioners, which ensures they have the requisite knowledge of Office rules, policies, and procedures. However, the scientific and technical requirements for admission as a design patent practitioner have been modified. Specifically, applicants to the design patent practitioner bar should have a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctorate of philosophy degree in any of the following areas from an accredited college or university: industrial design, product design, architecture, applied arts, graphic design, fine/studio arts, or art teacher education, or a degree equivalent to one of these listed degrees. See the Office of Enrollment and Discipline webpage at www.uspto.gov/about-us/organizational-offices/ office-general-counsel/office-enrollment-and- discipline-oed for more information. Design patent practitioners, like all patent practitioners, are required to provide competent representation to their clients. This includes properly informing their clients of practice limitations. See 37 CFR 11.101.

Design patent practitioners are registered under 37 CFR 11.6(d) and can only practice in design patent matters. 37 CFR 1.32(a)(1). Therefore, a design patent practitioner cannot sign papers in a utility (including provisional) or plant application. A patent practitioner who is registered to practice in all patent matters under 37 CFR 11.6(a)-(c) can sign papers in a design application. In other words, all patent practitioners can practice in design patent matters, but only patent practitioners that can practice in all patent matters can practice in utility, plant, and design patent matters. A power of attorney naming the practitioners associated with a customer number filed in an application may only include practitioners who are authorized to practice in that application. If a design patent practitioner is associated with a customer number, that customer number cannot be used to establish power of attorney in a utility or plant application. This applies even if a practitioner that is authorized to practice before the Office in all patent matters is also associated with that same customer number. See MPEP §§ 402, subsection II and 403, subsection I. A listing of registered patent attorneys and agents (including design patent attorneys and agents) is available at www.uspto.gov/FindPatentAttorney. Interested parties may also obtain a list of registered patent practitioners located in their area by writing to the Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) at Mail Stop OED, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. The Office cannot aid in selecting a patent practitioner. See 37 CFR 1.31 and MPEP § 401.

In addition to the signature requirements for patent practitioners registered under 37 CFR 11.6(a)-(c), design patent practitioners must indicate their design patent practitioner status in order to avoid public confusion and make the record clear. For handwritten signatures, a design patent practitioner must place the word “design” (in any format) adjacent to their signature (37 CFR 1.4(d)(1)), and for S-signatures, a design patent practitioner must place the word “design” (in any format) adjacent to the last forward slash of their S-signature (37 CFR 1.4(d)(2)(ii)).

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