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29 Jan 2024

Patent Assignment: How to Transfer Ownership of a Patent

By Michael K. Henry, Ph.D.

Patent Assignment: How to Transfer Ownership of a Patent

  • Intellectual Property
  • Patent Prosecution

This is the second in a two-part blog series on owning and transferring the rights to a patent. ( Read part one here. )

As we discussed in the first post in this series, patent owners enjoy important legal and commercial benefits: They have the right to exclude others from making, selling, using or importing the claimed invention, and to claim damages from anyone who infringes their patent.

However, a business entity can own a patent only if the inventors have assigned the patent rights to the business entity. So if your employees are creating valuable IP on behalf of your company, it’s important to get the patent assignment right, to ensure that your business is the patent owner.

In this post, we’ll take a closer look at what a patent assignment even is — and the best practices for approaching the process. But remember, assignment (or transfer of ownership) is a function of state law, so there might be some variation by state in how all this gets treated.

What Is a Patent Assignment and Why Does it Matter?

A patent assignment is an agreement where one entity (the “assignor”) transfers all or part of their right, title and interest in a patent or application to another entity (the “assignee”). 

In simpler terms, the assignee receives the original owner’s interest and gains the exclusive rights to pursue patent protection (through filing and prosecuting patent applications), and also to license and enforce the patent. 

Ideally, your business should own its patents if it wants to enjoy the benefits of the patent rights. But  under U.S. law , only an inventor or an assignee can own a patent — and businesses cannot be listed as an inventor. Accordingly, patent assignment is the legal mechanism that transfers ownership from the inventor to your business.

Patent Assignment vs. Licensing

Keep in mind that an assignment is different from a license. The difference is analogous to selling versus renting a house.

In a license agreement, the patent owner (the “licensor”) gives another entity (the “licensee”) permission to use the patented technology, while the patent owner retains ownership. Like a property rental, a patent license contemplates an ongoing relationship between the licensor and licensee.

In a patent assignment, the original owner permanently transfers its ownership to another entity. Like a property sale, a patent assignment is a permanent transfer of legal rights.

U sing Employment Agreements to Transfer Patent Ownership

Before your employees begin developing IP,  implement strong hiring policies  that ensure your IP rights will be legally enforceable in future.

If you’re bringing on a new employee, have them sign an  employment agreement  that establishes up front what IP the company owns — typically, anything the employee invents while under your employment. This part of an employment agreement is often presented as a self-contained document, and referred to as a “Pre-Invention Assignment Agreement” (PIAA).

The employment agreement should include the following provisions:

  • Advance assignment of any IP created while employed by your company, or using your company’s resources
  • An obligation to disclose any IP created while employed by your company, or using your company’s resources
  • An ongoing obligation to provide necessary information and execute documents related to the IP they created while employed, even after their employment ends
  • An obligation not to disclose confidential information to third parties, including when the employee moves on to a new employer

To track the IP your employees create, encourage your employees to document their contributions by completing  invention disclosure records .

But the paperwork can be quite involved, which is why your employment policies should also include  incentives to create and disclose valuable IP .

Drafting Agreements for Non-Employees

Some of the innovators working for your business might not have a formal employer-employee relationship with the business. If you don’t make the appropriate arrangements beforehand, this could complicate patent assignments. Keep an eye out for the following staffing arrangements:

  • Independent contractors:  Some inventors may be self-employed, or they may be employed by one of your service providers.
  • Joint collaborators:  Some inventors may be employed by, say, a subsidiary or service company instead of your company.
  • Anyone who did work through an educational institution : For example, Ph.D. candidates may not be employees of either their sponsoring institution or your company.

In these cases, you can still draft contractor or collaborator agreements using the same terms outlined above. Make sure the individual innovator signs it before beginning any work on behalf of your company.

patent assignment recordation search

O btaining Written Assignments for New Patent Applications

In addition to getting signed employment agreements, you should  also  get a written assignments for each new patent application when it’s filed, in order to memorialize ownership of the specific patent property.

Don’t rely exclusively on the employment agreement to prove ownership:

  • The employment agreement might contain confidential terms, so you don’t want to record them with the patent office
  • Because employment agreements are executed before beginning the process of developing the invention, they won’t clearly establish what specific patent applications are being assigned

While you  can  execute the formal assignment for each patent application after the application has been filed, an inventor or co-inventor who no longer works for the company might refuse to execute the assignment.

As such, we recommend executing the assignment before filing, to show ownership as of the filing date and avoid complications (like getting signatures from estranged inventors).

How to Execute a Written Patent Agreement

Well-executed invention assignments should:

  • Be in writing:  Oral agreements to assign patent rights are typically not enforceable in the United States
  • Clearly identify all parties:  Include the names, addresses, and relationship of the assignor(s) and assignee
  • Clearly identify the patent being assigned:  State the patent or patent application number, title, inventors, and filing date
  • Be signed by the assignors
  • Be notarized : If notarization isn’t possible, have one or two witnesses attest to the signatures

Recording a Patent Assignment With the USPTO

Without a recorded assignment with the U.S. patent office, someone else could claim ownership of the issued patent, and you could even lose your rights in the issued patent in some cases. 

So the patent owner (the Assignee) should should record the assignment through the  USPTO’s Assignment Recordation Branch . They can use the  Electronic Patent Assignment System (EPAS)  to file a  Recordation Cover Sheet  along with a copy of the actual patent assignment agreement.

They should submit this paperwork  within three months  of the assignment’s date. If it’s recorded electronically, the USPTO  won’t charge a recordation fee .

Need to check who owns a patent?  The USPTO website  publicly lists all information about a patent’s current and previous assignments.

When Would I Need to Execute a New Assignment for a Related Application?

You’ll need only one patent assignment per patent application, unless new matter is introduced in a new filing (e.g., in a  continuation-in-part , or in a non-provisional application that adds new matter to a  provisional application ). In that case, you’ll need an additional assignment to cover the new matter — even if it was developed by the same inventors.

What If an Investor Won’t Sign the Written Assignment?

If you can’t get an inventor to sign an invention assignment, you can still move forward with a patent application — but you’ll need to document your ownership. To document ownership, you can often rely on an   employee agreement ,  company policy ,  invention disclosure , or other employment-related documentation.

D o I Need to Record My Assignments in Foreign Countries?

Most assignments transfer all rights, title, and interest in all patent rights throughout the world.

But in some countries, the assignment might not be legally effective until the assignment has been recorded in that country — meaning that the assignee can’t enforce the patent rights, or claim damages for any infringement that takes place before the recordation. 

And there might be additional formal requirements that aren’t typically required in the United States. For example, some countries might require a transfer between companies to be signed by both parties, and must contain one or both parties’ addresses.

If you’re assigning patents issued by a foreign country, consult a patent attorney in that country to find out what’s required to properly document the transfer of ownership.

N eed Help With Your Patent Assignments?

Crafting robust assignment agreements is essential to ensuring the proper transfer of patent ownership. An  experienced patent professional  can help you to prepare legally enforceable documentation.

Henry Patent Law Firm has worked with tech businesses of all sizes to execute patent assignments —  contact us now  to learn more.

GOT A QUESTION? Whether you want to know more about the patent process or think we might be a good fit for your needs – we’d love to hear from you!

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Michael K. Henry, Ph.D.

Michael K. Henry, Ph.D., is a principal and the firm’s founding member. He specializes in creating comprehensive, growth-oriented IP strategies for early-stage tech companies.

10 Jan 2024

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Practice areas, benefits & limitations of uspto patent ownership records.

April 20, 2021

By: Brian T. Moriarty

Bloomberg Law

To evaluate a patent's legitimacy, whether it relates to litigation or a deal, one must first determine who owns the patent. This inquiry requires a visit to a far corner of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) known as the Assignment Recordation Branch—the patent world's version of a local county's recorder of deeds. The Assignment Recordation Branch keeps records of ownership of U.S. patents and applications, as it has done since Thomas Jefferson's days, except now the records are easily accessible through the internet.

The PTO Assignment Recordation Branch database is an important repository of patent records that should be reviewed by all parties that have or seek any interest in a patent. Interested parties should understand that the records filed with PTO are not vetted by the PTO, are not necessarily reliable, authentic, or complete, but are important evidence of ownership

These records are best viewed as a starting point and might be followed by additional actions to clarify ownership, such as through representations in deal documents or additional discovery in litigation. In sum, a party searching for patent ownership records at the PTO can gather valuable information searching the assignment database, but its search of the assignment database should be a start, not the end of the inquiry.

This article explores the value of and the significant limitations of the database.

Overview The PTO allows for the filing of assignments and other records that evidence current ownership, and it maintains records of prior owners. The PTO permits filing of records to fix flaws in ownership records. The PTO also allows the filing of other records that do not evidence present ownership but instead relate to potential future ownership rights or licensed patent rights.

The PTO's assignment database contains millions of records. It is a veritable social and business history of patent owners’ lives, often including records of birth and marriage, divorce and death of individuals; and mergers, acquisitions, sales, and dissolutions of corporate parties, and name changes. The records also reflect potential future ownership or limits on transferability, such as security agreements, notices of litigation, IRS tax liens, gifts, inheritances, and court orders. Records are filed by parties from virtually every country globally, and some non-countries, like Antarctica.

The patent assignment recordation statute, section 261 of the Patent Laws, provides some protection for current assignees against claims of other purchasers who fail to diligently record ownership records. In 2012, the section was amended to permit recordation of interests that are less than a present ownership interest. This amendment, however, did not provide any additional rights, benefits, or priorities for recording these lesser interests. The PTO noted that its database allows for “notification of equitable interests or other matters relevant to the ownership of a patent or application.”

Limitations Many records filed with the PTO seem to protect important rights but often fall short of expectations. For example, many technology companies pledge patents as collateral to secure funding. The lending bank obtains security interests in the patents and then files a security agreement with the PTO to attempt to enhance its security interests. While the filing of the security agreement with the PTO might give notice to others, it does not perfect the security interests. Only by filing a UCC-1 financing statement with a state regulator (not with the PTO) is a security interest perfected.

Another type of filing that often provides little value are nunc pro tunc agreements used to attempt to repair errors in the chain of title. A purchaser of a patent may realize that there is a flaw in the chain of title and seek to correct title by filing a “nunc pro tunc” assignment to retroactively fix the mistake. Courts have noted that a nunc pro tunc correction can operate to govern the relationship between the parties to the agreement, but such efforts are ineffective as attempts to rewrite history as to third parties. This approach echoes U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy's comment in a related context that “the charming utility of the nunc pro tunc device cannot obscure its outright fiction.” Thus, traditional nunc pro tunc patent assignments may only act to signal that there is a flaw in patent ownership.

In 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Schwendimann v. Arkwright, created confusion about nunc pro tunc agreements. The court held that if a technically faulty assignment is repaired, but not replaced, under state laws under the doctrine of contract reformation, then by “virtue of the reformation, the written instrument was corrected nunc pro tunc to the point of assignment.” In other words, an assignment agreement that is reformed can have a retroactive effect, but a new nunc pro tunc assignment agreement cannot be retroactive. The likely result of the confusing decision may be the birth of a new PTO filing: “Assignment by Reformation.”  

Further, all the records are not original records but are electronic copies that may or may not be authentic. The records are created by interested parties, not the PTO, and the PTO does not validate or verify any of the records. The PTO considers its act of adding records to the database to be “ministerial” and not a substantive review of rights. The party submitting the records does not sign an oath, attestation, or otherwise vouch for the validity of the records.

Also, no party has any legal obligation to file ownership records with the PTO assignment database. There are many ownership records filed with the PTO that are not filed in its assignment database, but instead are filed as part of the PTO's Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system that stores the records of the patent prosecution process. There are also patent owners who choose not to publicly file ownership records or who simply overlook the matter.

In addition, no one has any legal obligation to even review patent ownership records, with the exception of certain assignees who are charged with constructive knowledge of the current patent assignments. Thus, the PTO records in the assignment database are not necessarily complete, valid, or authentic. At best, courts presume the ownership records are valid and operable but are subject to challenge to overcome the presumption.

Bloomberg Law ©2021 The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.  

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Brian T. Moriarty

Principal t. 609.937.7951 Email Brian

  • IP Litigation

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A license is a grant (assignment) to the licensee of various licensed rights.  The situation can be further obscured by the fact that one can assign the licensed rights from one entity to another.  Thus, the first recordation of a license may be recorded as a “license,” while the assignment of those same licensed rights to another entity may be recorded as an “assignment.”  The only way to really understand the situation is to review the actual documents, which are all readily available from the recordation branch of the patent office.

Note that the patent office sometimes refers to licenses as a species of assignment.  That is correct, because one is assigning license rights.

Not necessarily.  Assignments are only needed if you are contractually obligated, by employment or otherwise, to make the assignment.

An important corollary is that an inventor can merely license his patent rights to a company that is exploiting the invention, and keep title to those rights in his own name.  Investors are usually unhappy with that arrangement, but there can be significant advantages.  One major advantage is that the patent holder is a “necessary and indispensable” to any litigation over patent validity.  Any competitor trying to invalidate the patent must file the action in the district where the inventor resides.

Assignments of provisionals have substantially the same pros and cons as assigning formal utility and design applications.  See the previous FAQ.

Since there are costs attending the handling and recording of assignments, many inventors and companies prefer to hold off on assigning provisional applications until filing of the corresponding formal (utility or PCT) applications.  That is a dangerous strategy.  In the interim between filing the provisional and the formal applications, there are all sorts of unfortunate events that can make later assignments difficult or impossible, including death or disability of an inventor, reluctance of an inventor to file an assignment due to a separation from a company, or divorce.

It is not technically necessary to re-file assignments for divisional or straight continuation applications.  A properly worded prior assignment recorded against the original application is automatically effective because the assignment recorded against the parent application gives the assignee rights to the subject matter common to both applications.

In the case of a substitute or continuation-in-part application, a prior assignment of the original application is not applied to the substitute or continuation-in-part application because the assignment recorded against the original application gives the assignee rights to only the subject matter common to both applications.  Substitute or continuation-in-part applications require the recordation of a new assignment if they are to be issued to an assignee.

Absolutely.  Indeed, it is a very common occurrence that an inventor will assign his invention to a company, and then the company will re-assign the rights after the patent issues.

Assignment is technically free, but it costs about $100 ($40 in filing costs and about $60 in paralegal time) to record the assignment at the U.S. patent office.

Note that the office charges US$ 40 for each patent or patent application listed on the recorda­tion form.  Thus, if an assignment references a family of 5 patent applications, the recorda­tion fee is US$ 200.  Of course paralegal charges would also apply, and possibly attorney time.

Under U.S. law, assignments must be recorded to be effective as against third parties who do not have actual knowledge of the assignment.  The statute is similar to recording statutes used for recording real property.  Thus, although there is no requirement to record an assignment, it is foolish not to do so.

Note that absent some unusual circumstance, patent assignments do not have to be notarized for use within the United States.

Preparing assignments is usually a simple matter of filling in the blanks of a form.  Assignment forms (inventor to company and company to company) and guidelines for preparing such forms can be found in  Strategic Patenting .

Note also that it is important to clearly identify whether the document being recorded is an assignment, license, or other document.  The recording branch does not generally read the documents to verify the content.

The Patent office will proceed as if the signature had been procured from the inventor, but only after establishing that the entity pursuing the application has colorable rights, and only after establishing that the inventor cannot be reached.  Thus, the patent office will need a copy of the employee agreement, assignment, or other documentary evidence establishing those rights.

In the case of a deceased inventor, the patent office will insist upon a statement from the executor of the estate, or an heir if probate is finished.  Where the inventor refuses to sign, or cannot be found, the patent office will insist upon seeing the letters, emails and faxes sent to the inventor, and will need a declaration from the person trying to make contact.

One simply records a certificate of name change or other formal document with the USPTO, using the assignment recordation form.

In foreign countries, name changes can be a real problem, and can cost anywhere from several hundred to a thousand dollars (mostly in attorneys fees).

It depends on the wording of the assignment and the recordation laws of the foreign countries.  Most assignments transfer all rights, title, and interest to U.S. patents and applications, and to corresponding foreign patents and applications.  Even so, the assignments might not be legally effective in a given country until the assignment is recorded in that country.

Some countries insist on a specific assignment that expressly lists that country. Canada, for example, typically requires its own assignments.

Patent infringement damages accrue in some countries only from the date the assignment was actually recorded at the relevant patent office.  Thus, delay in registering can cost a patent holder dearly in reduced patent infringement damages.

The main disadvantage to recording assignments is that many countries (including most or all of Europe) consider assignment of a patent or application to be a taxable transfer, and charge VAT (Value Added Tax) on the estimated value of the application or patent.  Since the value is often low in the early days, and can rise considerably during the life of the patent, the disadvantage of recordation can be mitigated by registering early.

Assignments records at the USPTO are available for  public inspection , but only for patents and published applications.  One can search by reel/frame number, patent or publication number, and assignor or assignee name.

The underlying documents are not available for download, but can be ordered from the assignment branch.  Paper mail requests can take months, but faxed requests are usually filled within a day or two.

No.  One should never rely upon the designation of “assignee” as set forth on the face of a patent.  First, the patent office obtains the “assignment” information directly from the issue fee transmittal form, and there is no verification whatsoever that such information is, or even ever was, correct.  The entry could well have been an error on the part of an attorney, paralegal, or secretary, and the issue fee transmittal form even warns that designation of an assignee of that form does not, in and of itself, affect an assignment.  Second, the patent is never altered after it is published.  Information that was correct at one point in time may well be superseded down the road.  Third, even if the “assignee” information is correct, one cannot know from the face of the patent what rights were assigned.  It might well be that only licensed rights were assigned, or that such rights are subject to a reversion.

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United States Patent and Trademark Office - An Agency of the Department of Commerce

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and U.S. Copyright Office conclude joint study on non-fungible tokens

CONTACT: (Media Only) 

Mandy Kraft , USPTO Anjana Padmanabhan , USCO

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office (collectively the “Offices”) published the results of their joint study on the intellectual property (IP) law and policy implications of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The Offices conducted the study in response to a June 2022 request from then-Chair of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Patrick Leahy and Ranking Member Thom Tillis.

During the joint study, the Offices solicited public comments via a notice of inquiry, held three public roundtables, and examined existing literature and case law. 

In their report, the Offices acknowledged commenters’ views that NFTs may enable artists to secure remuneration for downstream resales of their works, aid trademark owners in expanding their brand appeal, and play a supportive role in the management, transfer, or licensing of IP rights. They also recognized concerns that buyers and sellers do not know what IP rights are implicated in the creation, marketing, and transfer of NFTs, and that NFTs may be used to facilitate copyright or trademark infringement. 

The Offices concluded, however, that existing statutory enforcement mechanisms are currently sufficient to address infringement concerns related to NFT applications, and that changes to IP laws, or to the Offices’ registration and recordation practices, are not necessary or advisable at this time. Rather, public education initiatives and product transparency play an important role in ensuring greater awareness and understanding about NFTs.

“NFTs offer unique opportunities for creators to leverage their IP rights, but also present new challenges in keeping their work secure,” said Kathi Vidal, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). “At the USPTO, we continue to work side-by-side with industry and government collaborators such as the Copyright Office to better understand the IP implications of these evolving technologies through initiatives such as our Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies (AI/ET) Partnership. We look forward to continuing these efforts and our ongoing work to ensure USPTO’s practices and U.S. policy evolve to address emerging technologies so that we best serve the needs of our nation’s creators and innovators.” 

“We are pleased to share the results of our joint study with Congress, stakeholders, and the public,” said Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office. “The report reflects extensive input from a broad spectrum of commenters, including creators, brand owners, innovators, academics, and practitioners. We look forward to continuing to engage with stakeholders on emerging technologies and implications for IP rights.”

The full study is available on the USPTO’s  website and the Copyright Office’s  website .

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COMMENTS

  1. Patents Assignments: Change & search ownership

    You may email questions about searching patent assignments to [email protected]. For further information, you may contact the Assignment Recordation Branch Customer Service Desk at 571-272-3350 from 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Eastern Time. share Share this page. During the examination of pending patent application as well as after the patent ...

  2. United States Patent and Trademark Office

    This searchable database contains all recorded Patent Assignment information from August 1980 to the present. When the USPTO receives relevant information for its assignment database, the USPTO puts the information in the public record and does not verify the validity of the information. Recordation is a ministerial function--the USPTO neither ...

  3. Assignment Center

    EPAS is the Electronic Patent Assignment System that allows users to submit patent reassignment requests online. EPAS is being replaced by the new Assignment Center, which will offer more features and functionality for patent and trademark assignments. Users can access EPAS until February 5, 2021, when the transition to Assignment Center will be completed.

  4. Assignment Center

    Regarding patents and patent applications, assignment records cannot be canceled and are rarely expunged; see MPEP 323.01 for correction of assignment records. For further information, please contact the Assignment Recordation Branch Customer Service Desk at 571-272-3350 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET.

  5. USPTO Assignments on the Web

    The database contains all recorded Patent Assignment information from August 1980 to February 20, 2024 . If you have any comments or questions concerning the data displayed, contact PRD / Assignments at 571-272-3350. v.2.6

  6. Patent Assignment: How to Transfer Ownership of a Patent

    A patent assignment is an agreement where one entity (the "assignor") transfers all or part of their right, title and interest in a patent or application to another entity (the "assignee"). In simpler terms, the assignee receives the original owner's interest and gains the exclusive rights to pursue patent protection (through filing ...

  7. Recording of Assignments

    2020-06-24. No Comments. The Office records assignments, grants, and similar instruments sent to it for recording, and the recording serves as notice. If an assignment, grant, or conveyance of a patent or an interest in a patent (or an application for patent) is not recorded in the Office within three months from its date, it is void against a ...

  8. Who Owns What: Finding Patent Assignment Information

    Under 37 C.F.R. § 3.11, [a]ssignments of applications, patents, and registrations, and other documents relating to interests in patent applications and patents… will be recorded in the Office" with the Assignments Recordation Branch. Once an assignment is recorded (via the USPTO's Electronic Patent Assignment System, or EPAS), ownership ...

  9. PDF Electronically Recording a Patent Assignment

    Generally speaking, patent assignments should be recorded in the USPTO's Assignment Recordation Branch (ARB). While no law requires patent assignments to be recorded, failure to ... The Assignment Recordation Branch (ARB) can be contacted via telephone at: 571-272-3350 and responds to email inquiries sent to [email protected]. However, prior to

  10. USPTO Assignments on the Web

    Patent Assignment Trademark Assignment If you have any comments or questions concerning the data displayed, contact PRD / Assignments at 571-272-3350. v.2.6

  11. Assignment Recordation Branch (ARB)

    [email protected]. Helps customers with transferring ownership or changing the name on their patent or trademark registration using Assignment Center. Also provides information relating to pending patent or trademark assignments, and answers questions about assignments, liens on patents, and filing assignments recordation forms ...

  12. Search

    Search assignment; Record assignment; Order certified Patent documents; Patent Trial and Appeal Case Tracking System; Manual of Patent Examining Procedure; Trademarks. ... Search for a patent application. Search by application number, patent number, PCT number, publication number or international design registration number. Application #

  13. Transferring ownership/ Assignments FAQs

    Assignment Center makes it easier to transfer ownership or change the name on your patent or trademark registration. See our how-to guides on using Assignment Center for patents and trademarks. If you have questions, email [email protected] or call customer service at 800-972-6382.

  14. 302-Recording of Assignment Documents

    37 CFR 3.11 Documents which will be recorded. (a) Assignments of applications, patents, and registrations, and other documents relating to interests in patent applications and patents, accompanied by completed cover sheets as specified in § 3.28 and § 3.31 , will be recorded in the Office. Other documents, accompanied by completed cover ...

  15. 37 CFR Part 3 -- Assignment, Recording and Rights of Assignee

    Pressing enter in the search box will also bring you to search results. ... If an assignment of a patent application filed under § 1.53 ... Documents and cover sheets submitted by mail for recordation should be addressed to Mail Stop Assignment Recordation Services, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450 ...

  16. Understanding Patent Assignments: Definition, Usage, Benefits, and

    A patent assignment is a legal mechanism through which ownership rights of a patent are transferred from one party (the assignor) to another (the assignee). This process plays a pivotal role in ...

  17. Bloomberg Law

    The patent assignment recordation statute, section 261 of the Patent Laws, provides some protection for current assignees against claims of other purchasers who fail to diligently record ownership records. In 2012, the section was amended to permit recordation of interests that are less than a present ownership interest.

  18. Federal Register :: Recording Assignments

    The filing fee for submitting a patent assignment as indicated by 37 CFR 1.21 (h) is $40 per property for recording each document, while the filing fee for submitting a trademark assignment as indicated by 37 CFR 2.6 (b) (6) is $40 for recording the first property in a document and $25 for each additional property in the same document.

  19. Frequently Asked Questions about Patent Assignment

    A license is a grant (assignment) to the licensee of various licensed rights. The situation can be further obscured by the fact that one can assign the licensed rights from one entity to another. Thus, the first recordation of a license may be recorded as a "license," while the assignment of those same licensed rights to another entity may ...

  20. 300

    302.10-Electronic Submission of Assignment Documents; 303-Assignment Documents Not Endorsed on Pending Applications; 304‑305-[Reserved] 306-Assignment of Division, Continuation, Substitute, and Continuation-in-Part in Relation to Parent Application. 306.01-Assignment of an Application Claiming the Benefits of a Provisional Application

  21. Benefits & Limitations of USPTO Patent Ownership Records

    The PTO Assignment Recordation Branch database is an important repository of patent records that should be reviewed by all parties that have or seek any interest in a patent. Interested parties should understand that the records filed with PTO are not vetted by the PTO, are not necessarily reliable, authentic, or complete, but are important ...

  22. Trademark assignments: Transferring ownership or changing your name

    Mail Stop Assignment Recordation Branch Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office PO Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. If you file by paper, we will record your changes within 20 days of filing. Checking the USPTO trademark database for assignment /name change

  23. PDF RECORDATION FORM COVER SHEET PATENTS ONLY

    RECORDATION FORM COVER SHEET. PATENTS ONLY . Form . PTO-1595 (Rev. 6-12) OMB No. 0651-0027 (exp. 06/30/2021) U.S. DEPARTMENT OF . COMMERCE United States Patent and Trademark Office . To the Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office: Please record the attached documents or the new address(es) below. 1. Name of conveying party(ies)

  24. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and U.S. Copyright Office conclude

    Patent search. Patent Center. Forms. Patent filing. Patent Center. Global Dossier. Filing status. ... Search recorded assignment and record ownership changes. TMEP. ID Manual. TMOG. TBMP. Guides and manuals. ... and that changes to IP laws, or to the Offices' registration and recordation practices, are not necessary or advisable at this time. ...