MPEP § 714.25 — Discourtesy of Applicant or Attorney
Ninth Edition, Revision 01.2024 · last revised R-07.2022
37 CFR 1.3 Business to be conducted with decorum and courtesy.
Applicants and their attorneys or agents are required to conduct their business with the United States Patent and Trademark Office with decorum and courtesy. Papers presented in violation of this requirement will be submitted to the Director and will not be entered. A notice of the non-entry of the paper will be provided. Complaints against examiners and other employees must be made in correspondence separate from other papers.
All papers received in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should be briefly reviewed to determine whether any discourteous remarks appear therein.
If the attorney or agent is discourteous in the remarks or arguments in their amendment or other paper submitted for entry in an application file, either the discourtesy should be entirely ignored or the paper should be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner for Patents who oversees the Office of Petitions for review. See MPEP § 1002.02(b). If the Deputy Commissioner determines that the remarks are in violation of 37 CFR 1.3, the Deputy Commissioner will send a notice of non-entry of the paper to the applicant. At its discretion, the Office may also close the non-entered paper in the IFW of the application or remove the paper from the IFW.
Cited authority
- 1002.02(b) Petitions and Requests Decided by the Deputy Commissioner Who Oversees the Office of Petitions or Assigned Staff in the Office of Petitions, the Office of Patent Legal Administration and the MPEP Staff Office
- 37 CFR 1.3 Business to be conducted with decorum and courtesy
- 714 Amendments, Applicant’s Action
Cited by
- 1002.02(b) Petitions and Requests Decided by the Deputy Commissioner Who Oversees the Office of Petitions or Assigned Staff in the Office of Petitions, the Office of Patent Legal Administration and the MPEP Staff Office
- 410 Representations to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- 608 Disclosure
- 714.19 List of Amendments, Entry Denied
- 714.21 Amendments Inadvertently Entered, No Legal Effect