35 U.S.C. 368, Secrecy of certain inventions; filing international applications in foreign countries
Executive summary:
Potential for Errors: This document contains one section of the U.S. Patent Act (found in Title 35 of the United States Code) as amended by the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. This page was last updated in November 2011. While the page has been edited to help ensure that the changes made by the AIA to this section are reflected in this document, errors are possible. If you notice such errors, please contact Dan Tysver at (dtysver@bitlaw.com).
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35 U.S.C. 368 Secrecy of certain inventions; filing international applications in foreign countries.
(a) International applications filed in the Patent and Trademark Office shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 17 of this title.
(b) In accordance with article 27 (8) of the treaty, the filing of an international application in a country other than the United States on the invention made in this country shall be considered to constitute the filing of an application in a foreign country within the meaning of chapter 17 of this title, whether or not the United States is designated in that international application.
(c) If a license to file in a foreign country is refused or if an international application is ordered to be kept secret and a permit refused, the Patent and Trademark Office when acting as a Receiving Office, International Searching Authority, or International Preliminary Examining Authority, may not disclose the contents of such application to anyone not authorized to receive such disclosure.
(Added Nov. 14, 1975, Public Law 94-131, sec. 1, 89 Stat. 687; amended Nov. 8, 1984, Public Law 98-622, sec. 403(a), 98 Stat. 3392; Nov. 6, 1986, Public Law 99-616, sec. 6, 100 Stat. 3486.)
Effective Dates for Changes Made to this Section
REMOVAL OF "OF THIS TITLE"
Section 20 of the America Invents Act
(l) EFFECTIVE DATE.--The amendments made by this section shall take effect upon the expiration of the 1 year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act and shall apply to proceedings commenced on or after that effective date.