402 Power of Attorney; Naming Representative [R-07.2022]
37 CFR 1.32 Power of attorney.
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- (c) A power of attorney may only name as representative:
- (1) One or more joint inventors (§ 1.45);
- (2) Those registered patent practitioners associated with a Customer Number;
- (3) Ten or fewer patent practitioners, stating the name and registration number of each patent practitioner. Except as provided in paragraph (c)(1) or (c)(2) of this section, the Office will not recognize more than ten patent practitioners as being of record in an application or patent. If a power of attorney names more than ten patent practitioners, such power of attorney must be accompanied by a separate paper indicating which ten patent practitioners named in the power of attorney are to be recognized by the Office as being of record in the application or patent to which the power of attorney is directed.
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I. NAMING REPRESENTATIVE IN A POWER OF ATTORNEY
An applicant may give a power of attorney to one or more patent practitioners or one or more joint inventors. A power of attorney to a joint inventor will be recognized even though the one to whom it is given is not a registered practitioner. See 37 CFR 1.31 and 37 CFR 1.32(c)(1).
Powers of attorney naming firms of attorneys or agents filed in patent applications will not be recognized. Furthermore, a power of attorney that names more than ten patent practitioners will only be entered if Customer Number practice is used or if such power of attorney is accompanied by a separate paper indicating which ten patent practitioners named in the power of attorney are to be recognized by the Office as being of record in the application or patent to which the power of attorney is directed. If a power of attorney is not entered because more than ten patent practitioners were named, a copy of the power of attorney should be refiled with the separate paper as set forth in 37 CFR 1.32(c)(3).
Powers of attorney naming joint inventors, one or more registered individuals, or all registered practitioners associated with a Customer Number, may be made. See MPEP § 403 for Customer Number practice. Where a power of attorney is given to ten or fewer patent practitioners, 37 CFR 1.32(c)(3) requires the name and registration number of each patent practitioner to be stated in the power of attorney. If the name submitted on the power of attorney does not match the name associated with the registration number provided in the Office of Enrollment and Discipline records for patent practitioners, the person that the Office will recognize as being of record will be the person associated with the registration number provided, because the Office enters the registration number, not the name, when making the practitioner of record. Accordingly, if the wrong registration number is provided, a new power of attorney will be required to correct the error.
See MPEP § 601.03(a) for change of correspondence address in applications filed on or after September 16, 2012; see MPEP § 601.03(b) for change of correspondence address in applications filed before September 16, 2012. See MPEP § 201.06(c), 402.02(a), and 402.02(b) for change in the power of attorney in continuation or divisional applications filed under 37 CFR 1.53(b). See MPEP § 403 for the addition and/or deletion of a practitioner from the list of practitioners associated with a Customer Number. For a representative of a requester of reexamination, see MPEP § 2213.
II. REGISTERED PRACTITIONERS
For a power of attorney to be valid, the attorney or agent appointed must be registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in accordance with 37 CFR 11.6. Note that under 37 CFR 11.6(c), certain foreigners who are in good standing before the patent office of the country in which they reside and practice may be registered as a patent agent to practice before the Office for the limited purpose of presenting and prosecuting patent applications of applicants located in such country.
Any power of attorney given to a practitioner who has been suspended or disbarred by the Office is ineffective, and does not authorize the person to practice before the Office or to represent applicants or patentees in patent matters.
III. INEFFECTIVE POWER OF ATTORNEY
When an application for patent is filed accompanied by a power of attorney to a person who is neither registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office nor named as the inventor or a joint inventor in the application, the Office of Patent Application Processing will send the official filing receipt directly to the first named applicant, together with an explanatory letter. A copy of the letter will be sent to the person named in the power and a copy placed in the file without being given a paper number. The name of the unregistered person will not be added to the list of patent practitioners of record for the application in the Office’s electronic records.
Form paragraph 4.09 may be used to notify applicant that the attorney or agent is not registered.
¶ 4.09 Unregistered Attorney or Agent
An examination of this application reveals that applicant has attempted to appoint an attorney or agent who is neither registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in patent matters nor named as an inventor in the application, contrary to the Code of Federal Regulations, 37 CFR 1.31 and 1.32. Therefore, the appointment is void, ab initio, and the Office will not recognize the appointment. All communications from the Office will be addressed to the first named applicant, unless specific instructions to the contrary are supplied by the applicant(s) for patent or owner(s).
For applications filed before September 16, 2012, in the absence of the appointment of a registered practitioner, all papers filed in the application must be signed: (1) by all named applicants unless one named applicant has been given a power of attorney to sign on behalf of the remaining applicants, and the power of attorney is of record in the application; or (2) if there is an assignee of record of an undivided part interest, by all named applicants retaining an interest and such assignee; or (3) if there is an assignee of the entire interest, by such assignee; or (4) by a registered patent attorney or agent not of record who acts in a representative capacity under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.34
For applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, all papers must be signed by: (1) a patent practitioner of record; (2) a patent practitioner not of record who acts in a representative capacity under the provisions of 37 CFR 1.34; or (3) the applicant, except that papers submitted on behalf of a juristic entity applicant must be signed by a patent practitioner.
While an applicant (other than a juristic entity) may prosecute the application, lack of skill in this field usually acts as a liability in affording the maximum protection for the invention disclosed. Applicant is, therefore, encouraged to secure the services of a registered patent attorney or agent (i.e., registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) to prosecute the application, since the value of a patent is largely dependent upon skillful preparation and prosecution.
The Office cannot aid you in selecting a registered attorney or agent, however, a list of attorneys and agents registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is available at www.uspto.gov/FindPatentAttorney. For assistance locating this information, contact the Office of Enrollment and Discipline at (571) 272-4097 or call the Inventors Assistance Center toll-free number, 1(800)786-9199.
Examiner Note:
This form paragraph is to be used ONLY after ensuring that the named representative is not registered with the Office. An inquiry through the Patent Data Portal should be first made and if no listing is given, the Office of Enrollment and Discipline should be contacted to determine the current “recognition” status of the individual named by the applicant in a “power of attorney.” If the named individual is NOT registered or otherwise recognized by the Office, the correspondence address of record should be promptly changed to that of the first named applicant unless applicant specifically provides a different “correspondence address.” A copy of the Office communication incorporating this form paragraph should also be mailed to the unregistered individual named by the applicant in the “power of attorney.”