MPEP Section 2001.03, To Whom Duty of Disclosure Is Owed

Executive summary:

This document contains Section 2001.03 ("To Whom Duty of Disclosure Is Owed ") of the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (the "M.P.E.P."), Eighth Edition, Eighth Revision (July 2010). This page was last updated in January 2011. You may return to the section index to find a particular section. Alternatively, you may search the MPEP using the search box that appears on the left side of every page of BitLaw--you may restrict your search to the MPEP on the search results page.

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2001.03 To Whom Duty of Disclosure Is Owed [R-2]

37 CFR 1.56(a) states that the "duty of candor and good faith" is owed "in dealing with the Office" and that all associated with the filing and prosecution of a patent application have a "duty to disclose to the Office" material information. This duty "in dealing with" and "to" the Office extends, of course, to all dealings which such individuals have with the Office, and is not limited to representations to or dealings with the examiner. For example, the duty would extend to proceedings before the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences and the Office of the * Commissioner for Patents.