human: Does an applicant who rescinded his non-publication request pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(ii) prior to filing abroad have any duty to provide notification of the foreign filing under 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(iii)?
assistant: Yes, notice of foreign filing is still required. Rescission does not nullify a nonpublication request. Rescission revokes the nonpublication request, but it does not erase the fact that the nonpublication request was made because a nonpublication request is more than a request that the application not be published, it is also an affirmative statement that the "invention disclosed in the application has not been and will not be the subject of an application in another country." If notice of foreign filing wasn't important even when the nonpublication request had been rescinded, then Congress would not have included both sections (ii) and (iii) in the statute (rescission and notice of foreign filing, respectively). 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B) states (in part): (ii) An applicant may rescind a request made under clause (i) at any time. (iii) An applicant who has made a request under clause (i) but who subsequently files, in a foreign country or under a multilateral international agreement specified in clause (i), an application directed to the invention disclosed in the application filed in the Patent and Trademark Office, shall notify the Director of such filing not later than 45 days after the date of the filing of such foreign or international application. A failure of the applicant to provide such notice within the prescribed period shall result in the application being regarded as abandoned, unless it is shown to the satisfaction of the Director that the delay in submitting the notice was unintentional. (iv) If an applicant rescinds a request made under clause (i) or notifies the Director that an application was filed in a foreign country or under a multilateral international agreement specified in clause (i), the application shall be published in accordance with the provisions of paragraph (1) on or as soon as is practical after the date that is specified in clause (i). Furthermore, if 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(iii) clearly excluded applications in which a rescission had been made from the those applications in which notice of foreign filing was required, then such applications would not be required to have a notice of foreign filing. The request for nonpublication, however, is more than simply requesting nonpublication, it is an affirmative statement that the application has not been and will not be filed abroad. Therefore, one cannot simply rescind the nonpublication request and have the record be clear as to whether applicant has or will file in another country or under an international treaty ( e.g. , PCT) that requires publication. Since the statute does NOT exclude applications with rescissions from those applications in which a notice of foreign filing is required, all applications in which applicant has informed the Office that they will not "foreign file" via a nonpublication request require a notice from the applicant that, in effect, they changed their mind by providing an affirmative notice of foreign filing. See 35 U.S.C. 122(b)(2)(B)(iii). An applicant or patentee who merely rescinded their nonpublication request, and did not tell the Office that they foreign filed (and has foreign filed and did not provide notice before the date that is 45 days after the date of foreign filing) should promptly file a petition to revive or consider the application abandoned.