37 CFR 1.322 — Certificate of correction of Office mistake

Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024

• (a)
  • (1) The Director may issue a certificate of correction pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 254 to correct a mistake in a patent, incurred through the fault of the Office, which mistake is clearly disclosed in the records of the Office:
    • (i) At the request of the patentee or the patentee’s assignee;
    • (ii) Acting sua sponte for mistakes that the Office discovers; or
    • (iii) Acting on information about a mistake supplied by a third party.
  • (2)
    • (i) There is no obligation on the Office to act on or respond to a submission of information or request to issue a certificate of correction by a third party under paragraph (a)(1)(iii) of this section.
    • (ii) Papers submitted by a third party under this section will not be made of record in the file that they relate to nor be retained by the Office.
  • (3) If the request relates to a patent involved in an interference or trial before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the request must comply with the requirements of this section and be accompanied by a motion under § 41.121(a)(2) , § 41.121(a)(3) , or § 42.20 of this title.
  • (4) The Office will not issue a certificate of correction under this section without first notifying the patentee (including any assignee of record) at the correspondence address of record as specified in § 1.33(a) and affording the patentee or an assignee an opportunity to be heard.
• (b) If the nature of the mistake on the part of the Office is such that a certificate of correction is deemed inappropriate in form, the Director may issue a corrected patent in lieu thereof as a more appropriate form for certificate of correction, without expense to the patentee.

[24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959; 34 FR 5550, Mar. 22, 1969; para. (a), 49 FR 48416, Dec. 12, 1984, effective Feb. 11, 1985; para. (a) revised, 65 FR 54604, Sept. 8, 2000, effective Nov. 7, 2000; paras. (a)(1) & (b) revised, 68 FR 14332, Mar. 25, 2003, effective May 1, 2003; para. (a)(3) revised, 69 FR 49959, Aug. 12, 2004, effective Sept. 13, 2004; para. (a)(3) revised, 77 FR 46615, Aug. 6, 2012, effective Sept. 16, 2012]