37 CFR 1.213 — Nonpublication request

Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024

• (a) If the invention disclosed in an application has not been and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires publication of applications eighteen months after filing, the application will not be published under 35 U.S.C. 122(b) and § 1.211 provided:
  • (1) A request (nonpublication request) is submitted with the application upon filing;
  • (2) The request states in a conspicuous manner that the application is not to be published under 35 U.S.C. 122(b) ;
  • (3) The request contains a certification that the invention disclosed in the application has not been and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires publication at eighteen months after filing; and
  • (4) The request is signed in compliance with § 1.33(b).
• (b) The applicant may rescind a nonpublication request at any time. A request to rescind a nonpublication request under paragraph (a) of this section must:
  • (1) Identify the application to which it is directed;
  • (2) State in a conspicuous manner that the request that the application is not to be published under 35 U.S.C. 122(b) is rescinded; and
  • (3) Be signed in compliance with § 1.33(b) .
• (c) If an applicant who has submitted a nonpublication request under paragraph (a) of this section subsequently files an application directed to the invention disclosed in the application in which the nonpublication request was submitted in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires publication of applications eighteen months after filing, the applicant must notify the Office of such filing within forty-five days after the date of the filing of such foreign or international application. The failure to timely notify the Office of the filing of such foreign or international application shall result in abandonment of the application in which the nonpublication request was submitted ( 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(iii) ).

[Added, 65 FR 57024, Sept. 20, 2000, effective Nov. 29, 2000]