human: I filed a nonpublication request and a certification under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i) using the USPTO form PTO/SB/35 at the time of filing the U.S. application. At that time, I did not believe that publication was necessary because the invention disclosed
assistant: 1. Do I need to rescind the nonpublication request? 2. Is the U.S. application abandoned because the certification is improper? 3. Do I need to file a petition to revive the abandon application due to failure to notify the Office of the PCT application under 37 CFR 1.137(f)? 4. Is there anything I can do to correct the improper certification so that the validity or enforceability of any patent issuing from the U.S. application is not jeopardized?   1. Yes. The request to rescind (USPTO form PTO/SB/36) should be filed promptly. Since the PCT application was filed prior to the filing of the U.S. application, the applicant or the representative should not have certified that the invention disclosed in the U.S. application has not and will not be the subject of an application filed in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires eighteen-month publication. See 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i). The U.S. application is subject to publication under the eighteen-month publication provisions of AIPA.  2. The Office will not treat the U.S. application as abandoned pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(iii). The statute only provides for that an application is regarded as abandoned when the applicant fails to notify the Office within 45 days of a subsequently filed application that is directed to the same subject as the invention of the US application in another country, or under a multilateral international agreement, that requires eighteen-month publication. 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(iii) does not apply to the situation when the applicant made an improper certification subsequent to the foreign filing  3. A petition to revive under 37 CFR 1.137(f) is inappropriate because the application is pending (unless the application is abandoned for other reasons). If a petition to revive under 37 CFR 1.137(f) is filed, the Office will dismiss the petition as inappropriate but retain the petition fee because the Office was required to evaluate the merits of the petition before being able to determine that the petition was not appropriate.  4. Applicants and their representatives should make sure that the certification is proper before signing and filing it with the Office. While applicants should rescind any improper certification as soon as possible, 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(i)-(iv) does not include any provision for "correction" of an improper certification. Any applicants or their representative, however, who makes a false statement (e.g., an improper certification) may be violating 37 CFR 10.18(b). In addition, such false statements by registered patent practitioners may also violate other Disciplinary Rules, 37 CFR 10.20-10.112. While applicant cannot undo the fact that an improper certification was made in this application, with the filing of the rescission request applicant may explain that the original certification was improper.