Us Code § 301 - Citation of prior art and written statements
Full text of Us Code United States Code § 301 — Citation of prior art and written statements, with citation guidance and answers to common questions.
§ 301. Citation of prior art and written statements
(a)
(1) prior art consisting of patents or printed publications which that person believes to have a bearing on the patentability of any claim of a particular patent; or
(2) statements of the patent owner filed in a proceeding before a Federal court or the Office in which the patent owner took a position on the scope of any claim of a particular patent.
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
(Added Pub. L. 96–517, §1, Dec. 12, 1980, 94 Stat. 3015; amended Pub. L. 112–29, §6(g)(1), Sept. 16, 2011, 125 Stat. 311.)
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2011—Pub. L. 112–29 amended section generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: "Any person at any time may cite to the Office in writing prior art consisting of patents or printed publications which that person believes to have a bearing on the patentability of any claim of a particular patent. If the person explains in writing the pertinency and manner of applying such prior art to at least one claim of the patent, the citation of such prior art and the explanation thereof will become a part of the official file of the patent. At the written request of the person citing the prior art, his or her identity will be excluded from the patent file and kept confidential."
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 2011 Amendment
Pub. L. 112–29, §6(g)(3), Sept. 16, 2011, 125 Stat. 312, provided that: "The amendments made by this subsection [amending this section] shall take effect upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this Act [Sept. 16, 2011] and shall apply to any patent issued before, on, or after that effective date."
Effective Date
Section effective July 1, 1981, and applicable to patents in force as of July 1, 1981, or issued thereafter, see section 8(b) of Pub. L. 96–517, set out as an Effective Date of 1980 Amendment note under section 41 of this title.
About This Section
35 U.S.C. § 301 is part of Title 35 of the United States Code. The United States Code is the official codification of federal statutes maintained by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives. Congress amends the Code through new public laws, which are eventually incorporated into the relevant title.
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