MPEP § 1001 — MPEP § 1001
Current through: 2022-07-01

1001-Statutory Authority of Director of the USPTO 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 1000 

 Section 1001 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 1001 Statutory Authority of Director of the USPTO [R-07.2015]

 
 35 U.S.C. 2 
 Powers and duties. 

 
 (a) IN GENERAL.— The United States Patent and Trademark Office,
 subject to the policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce— 
 
 (1) shall be responsible for the granting and issuing of
 patents and the registration of trademarks; and
 

 (2) shall be responsible for disseminating to the public
 information with respect to patents and trademarks.
 

 
 

 (b) SPECIFIC POWERS.— The Office— 
 
 (1) shall adopt and use a seal of the Office, which shall be
 judicially noticed and with which letters patent, certificates of trademark
 registrations, and papers issued by the Office shall be authenticated;
 

 (2) may establish regulations, not inconsistent with law,
 which— 
 
 (A) shall govern the conduct of proceedings in the
 Office;
 

 (B) shall be made in accordance with section 553 of title
 5;
 

 (C) shall facilitate and expedite the processing of
 patent applications, particularly those which can be filed, stored,
 processed, searched, and retrieved electronically, subject to the
 provisions of section 122 relating to
 the confidential status of applications;
 

 (D) may govern the recognition and conduct of agents,
 attorneys, or other persons representing applicants or other parties
 before the Office, and may require them, before being recognized as
 representatives of applicants or other persons, to show that they are
 of good moral character and reputation and are possessed of the
 necessary qualifications to render to applicants or other persons
 valuable service, advice, and assistance in the presentation or
 prosecution of their applications or other business before the
 Office;
 

 (E) shall recognize the public interest in continuing to
 safeguard broad access to the United States patent system through the
 reduced fee structure for small entities under section 41(h)(1);
 

 (F) provide for the development of a performance-based
 process that includes quantitative and qualitative measures and
 standards for evaluating cost-effectiveness and is consistent with the
 principles of impartiality and competitiveness; and
 

 (G) may, subject to any conditions
 prescribed by the Director and at the request of the patent applicant,
 provide for prioritization of examination of applications for
 products, processes, or technologies that are important to the
 national economy or national competitiveness without recovering the
 aggregate extra cost of providing such prioritization, notwithstanding
 section 41 or any other provision of law;
 

 
 

 (3) may acquire, construct, purchase, lease, hold, manage,
 operate, improve, alter, and renovate any real, personal, or mixed property,
 or any interest therein, as it considers necessary to carry out its
 functions;
 

 (4) 
 
 (A) may make such purchases, contracts for the
 construction, maintenance, or management and operation of facilities,
 and contracts for supplies or services, without regard to the
 provisions of subtitle I and chapter 33 of title 40, division C
 (except sections 3302, 3501(b), 3509, 3906, 4710, and 4711) of
 subtitle I of title 41, and the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
 (42 U.S.C. 11301 et seq.); and
 

 (B) may enter into and perform such purchases and
 contracts for printing services, including the process of composition,
 platemaking, presswork, silk screen processes, binding, microform, and
 the products of such processes, as it considers necessary to carry out
 the functions of the Office, without regard to sections 501 through
 517 and 1101 through 1123 of title 44;
 

 
 

 (5) may use, with their consent, services, equipment,
 personnel, and facilities of other departments, agencies, and
 instrumentalities of the Federal Government, on a reimbursable basis, and
 cooperate with such other departments, agencies, and instrumentalities in
 the establishment and use of services, equipment, and facilities of the
 Office;
 

 (6) may, when the Director determines that it is practicable,
 efficient, and cost-effective to do so, use, with the consent of the United
 States and the agency, instrumentality, Patent and Trademark Office, or
 international organization concerned, the services, records, facilities, or
 personnel of any State or local government agency or instrumentality or
 foreign patent and trademark office or international organization to perform
 functions on its behalf;
 

 (7) may retain and use all of its revenues and receipts,
 including revenues from the sale, lease, or disposal of any real, personal,
 or mixed property, or any interest therein, of the Office; 
 

 (8) shall advise the President, through the Secretary of
 Commerce, on national and certain international intellectual property policy
 issues;
 

 (9) shall advise Federal departments and agencies on matters of
 intellectual property policy in the United States and intellectual property
 protection in other countries;
 

 (10) shall provide guidance, as appropriate, with respect to
 proposals by agencies to assist foreign governments and international
 intergovernmental organizations on matters of intellectual property
 protection;
 

 (11) may conduct programs, studies, or exchanges of items or
 services regarding domestic and international intellectual property law and
 the effectiveness of intellectual property protection domestically and
 throughout the world, and the Office is authorized to expend funds to cover
 the subsistence expenses and travel-related expenses, including per diem,
 lodging costs, and transportation costs, of persons attending such programs
 who are not Federal employees;
 

 (12) 
 
 (A) shall advise the Secretary of Commerce on programs
 and studies relating to intellectual property policy that are
 conducted, or authorized to be conducted, cooperatively with foreign
 intellectual property offices and international intergovernmental
 organizations; and
 

 (B) may conduct programs and studies described in
 subparagraph (A); and
 

 
 

 (13) 
 
 (A) in coordination with the Department of State, may
 conduct programs and studies cooperatively with foreign intellectual
 property offices and international intergovernmental organizations;
 and
 

 (B) with the concurrence of the Secretary of State, may
 authorize the transfer of not to exceed $100,000 in any year to the
 Department of State for the purpose of making special payments to
 international intergovernmental organizations for studies and programs
 for advancing international cooperation concerning patents,
 trademarks, and other matters.
 

 
 

 
 

 (c) CLARIFICATION OF SPECIFIC POWERS.— 
 
 (1) The special payments under subsection (b)(13)(B) shall be
 in addition to any other payments or contributions to international
 organizations described in subsection (b)(13)(B) and shall not be subject to
 any limitations imposed by law on the amounts of such other payments or
 contributions by the United States Government.
 

 (2) Nothing in subsection (b) shall derogate from the duties of
 the Secretary of State or from the duties of the United States Trade
 Representative as set forth in section 141 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19
 U.S.C. 2171).
 

 (3) Nothing in subsection (b) shall derogate from the duties
 and functions of the Register of Copyrights or otherwise alter current
 authorities relating to copyright matters.
 

 (4) In exercising the Director’s powers under paragraphs (3)
 and (4)(A) of subsection (b), the Director shall consult with the
 Administrator of General Services.
 

 (5) In exercising the Director’s powers and duties under this
 section, the Director shall consult with the Register of Copyrights on all
 copyright and related matters.
 

 
 

 (d) CONSTRUCTION.— Nothing in this section shall be construed to
 nullify, void, cancel, or interrupt any pending request-for-proposal let or
 contract issued by the General Services Administration for the specific purpose of
 relocating or leasing space to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
 

 
 

 
 35 U.S.C. 3 
 Officers and employees. 

 
 (a) UNDER SECRETARY AND DIRECTOR.— 
 
 (1) IN GENERAL.— The powers and duties of the United States
 Patent and Trademark Office shall be vested in an Under Secretary of
 Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent
 and Trademark Office (in this title referred to as the “Director”), who
 shall be a citizen of the United States and who shall be appointed by the
 President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Director
 shall be a person who has a professional background and experience in patent
 or trademark law.
 

 (2) DUTIES.— 
 
 (A) IN GENERAL.— The Director shall be responsible for
 providing policy direction and management supervision for the Office
 and for the issuance of patents and the registration of trademarks.
 The Director shall perform these duties in a fair, impartial, and
 equitable manner.
 

 (B) CONSULTING WITH THE PUBLIC ADVISORY COMMITTEES.— The
 Director shall consult with the Patent Public Advisory Committee
 established in section 5 on a regular
 basis on matters relating to the patent operations of the Office,
 shall consult with the Trademark Public Advisory Committee established
 in section 5 on a regular
 basis on matters relating to the trademark operations of the Office,
 and shall consult with the respective Public Advisory Committee before
 submitting budgetary proposals to the Office of Management and Budget
 or changing or proposing to change patent or trademark user fees
 or patent or trademark regulations which are subject to the
 requirement to provide notice and opportunity for public comment under
 section 553 of title 5, as the case may be.
 

 
 

 (3) OATH.— The Director shall, before taking office, take an
 oath to discharge faithfully the duties of the Office.
 

 (4) REMOVAL.— The Director may be removed from office by the
 President. The President shall provide notification of any such removal to
 both Houses of Congress.
 

 
 

 (b) OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES OF THE OFFICE.— 
 
 (1) DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY AND DEPUTY DIRECTOR.— The Secretary
 of Commerce, upon nomination by the Director, shall appoint a Deputy Under
 Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the
 United States Patent and Trademark Office who shall be vested with the
 authority to act in the capacity of the Director in the event of the absence
 or incapacity of the Director. The Deputy Director shall be a citizen of the
 United States who has a professional background and experience in patent or
 trademark law.
 

 (2) COMMISSIONERS.— 
 
 (A) APPOINTMENT AND DUTIES.— The Secretary of Commerce
 shall appoint a Commissioner for Patents and a Commissioner for
 Trademarks, without regard to chapter 33, 51, or 53 of title 5. The
 Commissioner for Patents shall be a citizen of the United States with
 demonstrated management ability and professional background and
 experience in patent law and serve for a term of 5 years. The
 Commissioner for Trademarks shall be a citizen of the United States
 with demonstrated management ability and professional background and
 experience in trademark law and serve for a term of 5 years. The
 Commissioner for Patents and the Commissioner for Trademarks shall
 serve as the chief operating officers for the operations of the Office
 relating to patents and trademarks, respectively, and shall be
 responsible for the management and direction of all aspects of the
 activities of the Office that affect the administration of patent and
 trademark operations, respectively. The Secretary may reappoint a
 Commissioner to subsequent terms of 5 years as long as the performance
 of the Commissioner as set forth in the performance agreement in
 subparagraph (B) is satisfactory.
 

 (B) SALARY AND PERFORMANCE AGREEMENT.— The Commissioners
 shall be paid an annual rate of basic pay not to exceed the maximum
 rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive Service established under
 section 5382 of title 5, including any applicable locality-based
 comparability payment that may be authorized under section
 5304(h)(2)(C) of title 5. The compensation of the Commissioners shall
 be considered, for purposes of section 207(c)(2)(A) of title 18, to be
 the equivalent of that described under clause (ii) of section
 207(c)(2)(A) of title 18. In addition, the Commissioners may receive a
 bonus in an amount of up to, but not in excess of, 50 percent of the
 Commissioners’ annual rate of basic pay, based upon an evaluation by
 the Secretary of Commerce, acting through the Director, of the
 Commissioners’ performance as defined in an annual performance
 agreement between the Commissioners and the Secretary. The annual
 performance agreements shall incorporate measurable organization and
 individual goals in key operational areas as delineated in an annual
 performance plan agreed to by the Commissioners and the Secretary.
 Payment of a bonus under this subparagraph may be made to the
 Commissioners only to the extent that such payment does not cause the
 Commissioners’ total aggregate compensation in a calendar year to
 equal or exceed the amount of the salary of the Vice President under
 section 104 of title 3.
 

 (C) REMOVAL.— The Commissioners may be removed from
 office by the Secretary for misconduct or nonsatisfactory performance
 under the performance agreement described in subparagraph (B), without
 regard to the provisions of title 5. The Secretary shall provide
 notification of any such removal to both Houses of Congress.
 

 
 

 (3) OTHER OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES.— The Director shall— 
 
 (A) appoint such officers, employees (including
 attorneys), and agents of the Office as the Director considers
 necessary to carry out the functions of the Office; and
 

 (B) define the title, authority, and duties of such
 officers and employees and delegate to them such of the powers vested
 in the Office as the Director may determine. 
 
 

 

 The Office shall not be subject to any
 administratively or statutorily imposed limitation on positions or
 personnel, and no positions or personnel of the Office shall be taken
 into account for purposes of applying any such limitation
 

 

 
 

 (4) TRAINING OF EXAMINERS.— The Office shall submit to the
 Congress a proposal to provide an incentive program to retain as employees
 patent and trademark examiners of the primary examiner grade or higher who
 are eligible for retirement, for the sole purpose of training patent and
 trademark examiners.
 

 (5) NATIONAL SECURITY POSITIONS.— The Director, in consultation
 with the Director of the Office of Personnel Management, shall maintain a
 program for identifying national security positions and providing for
 appropriate security clearances, in order to maintain the secrecy of certain
 inventions, as described in section 181 , and to prevent
 disclosure of sensitive and strategic information in the interest of
 national security.
 

 (6) ADMINISTRATIVE PATENT JUDGES AND
 ADMINISTRATIVE TRADEMARK JUDGES.—The Director may fix the rate of basic pay
 for the administrative patent judges appointed pursuant to section 6 and the
 administrative trademark judges appointed pursuant to section 17 of the
 Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. 1067) at not greater than the rate of basic
 pay payable for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of
 title 5. The payment of a rate of basic pay under this paragraph shall not
 be subject to the pay limitation under section 5306(e) or 5373 of title
 5.
 

 
 

 
 *****

 

 
 1001.01 Modes of Exercising Authority [R-07.2015]

 The authority of the Director of the USPTO to review and supervise the
 work of the Office is exercised by the promulgation of the Rules of Practice; issuance
 of orders, notices and memoranda stating Office policies and modes for effectuating
 these policies; decisions on petitions by applicants; and by the designation of
 particular cases which must be submitted to the Director of the USPTO or other officials
 authorized by the Director of the USPTO. The present Chapter deals with the latter two
 items. The line of demarcation between appealable matters for the Patent Trial and
 Appeal Board (Board) and petitionable matters for the Director of the U.S. Patent and
 Trademark Office (Director) should be carefully observed. The Board will not ordinarily
 hear a question that should be decided by the Director on petition, and the Director
 will not ordinarily entertain a petition where the question presented is a matter
 appealable to the Board. See MPEP Chapter 1200 for more information
 on appealable matters.
 

 37 CFR
 1.181(g) states, “The Director may delegate to appropriate Patent
 and Trademark Office officials the determination of petitions.”
 

 The various delegations to various Office officials are set forth in
 this Chapter.
 

 The delegations set forth in this Chapter do not confer a right to have
 a matter decided by a specific Office official, rather, such delegations aid in the
 efficient treatment of petitions by the Office. A delegation of supervisory or higher
 level review authority over a matter carries with it the authority to decide the matter
 ab initio. 

 

 [top] 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 1001-Statutory Authority of Director of the USPTO 
 1001.01-Modes of Exercising Authority 

 
 

 1002-Petitions to the Director of the USPTO 
 1002.01-Procedure 

 1002.02-Delegation of Authority To Decide Petitions 
 1002.02(a)-[Reserved] 

 1002.02(b)-Petitions and Requests Decided by the Deputy Commissioner Who Oversees the Office of Petitions or Assigned Staff in the Office
 of Petitions, the Office of Patent Legal Administration and the MPEP Staff Office 

 1002.02(c)-Petitions and Requests Decided by the Technology Center Directors 
 1002.02(c)(1)-Petitions Decided by the Director of the Technology Center Who Oversees Licensing and Review 

 1002.02(c)(2)-[Reserved] 

 1002.02(c)(3)-Petitions and Requests Decided by the Director of Technology Center 2900 

 1002.02(c)(4)-Petitions Decided in the Central Reexamination Unit 

 
 

 1002.02(d)-Petitions and Matters Decided by Supervisory Patent Examiners 

 1002.02(e)-[Reserved] 

 1002.02(f)-Petitions and Matters Decided by the Chief Administrative Patent Judge of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board 

 1002.02(g)-Petitions Decided by the Administrative Patent Judges 

 1002.02(h)-[Reserved] 

 1002.02(i)-Petitions Decided by the Commissioner for Trademarks 

 1002.02(j)-Petitions Decided by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board 

 1002.02(k)-Matters Decided by the General Counsel, the Office of General Law and the Solicitor 
 1002.02(k)(1)-Petitions and Matters Decided by the General Counsel 

 1002.02(k)(2)-Requests Decided by the Office of General Law 

 1002.02(k)(3)-Petitions Decided by the Solicitor 

 
 

 1002.02(l)-Requests Decided by the Certificates of Correction Branch 

 1002.02(m)-Petitions Decided by the Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline 

 1002.02(n)-[Reserved] 

 1002.02(o)-Petitions and Other Matters Decided by the Deputy Director of the USPTO 

 1002.02(p)-Petitions and Matters Decided by the Director of International Patent Legal Administration 

 1002.02(q)-Petitions and Requests Decided by the Director of Office of Patent Application Processing (OPAP) 

 1002.02(r)-Petitions Decided by the Director of Office of Data Management 

 1002.02(s)-Petitions and Matters Decided in the Technology Centers 

 1002.02(t)-Requests Decided by the Deputy Commissioner for Patents who oversees the Office of Information Technology for Patents 

 
 

 
 

 1003-Matters Submitted to Technology Center Directors 

 1004-Actions Which Require the Attention of a Primary Examiner 

 1005-Exceptions to Partial Signatory Authority 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:49:24