35 USC 368
Secrecy of certain inventions; filing international applications in foreign countries

Executive summary:

This document contains one section of the U.S. Patent Act (found in Title 35 of the United States Code). This page was last updated in November 2005. All of the sections of the Patent Act are listed on the Index page. A Word Index is also available to the Patent Act.

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§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 [35 USC § §181 et seq.].

(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 [35 USC § §181 et seq.], 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.