MPEP § 110 — MPEP § 110
Current through: 2022-07-01

110-Confidential Nature of International Applications 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 0100 

 Section 110 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 110 Confidential Nature of International Applications [R-07.2015]

 
 PCT Article 30 

 Confidential Nature of the International
 Application. 

 
 (1)
 
 (a) Subject to the provisions of subparagraph (b), the
 International Bureau and the International Searching Authorities shall not
 allow access by any person or authority to the international application
 before the international publication of that application, unless requested
 or authorized by the applicant.
 

 (b) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not apply to any
 transmittal to the competent International Searching Authority, to
 transmittals provided for under Article 13 , and to
 communications provided for under Article 20 .
 

 
 

 (2)
 
 (a) No national Office shall allow access to the international
 application by third parties unless requested or authorized by the
 applicant, before the earliest of the following dates:
 
 (i) date of the international publication of the
 international application,
 

 (ii) date of receipt of the communication of the
 international application under Article 20 ,
 

 (iii) date of receipt of a copy of the international
 application under Article 22 .
 

 
 

 (b) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not prevent any
 national Office from informing third parties that it has been designated, or
 from publishing that fact. Such information or publication may, however,
 contain only the following data: identification of the receiving Office,
 name of the applicant, international filing date, international application
 number, and title of the invention.
 

 (c) The provisions of subparagraph (a) shall not prevent any
 designated Office from allowing access to the international application for
 the purposes of the judicial authorities.
 

 
 

 (3) The provisions of paragraph (2)(a) shall apply to any receiving
 Office except as so far as transmittals provided for under Article
 12(1) are concerned.
 

 (4) For the purposes of this Article, the term “access” covers any
 means by which third parties may acquire cognizance, including individual
 communication and general publication, provided, however, that no national Office
 shall generally publish an international application or its translation before the
 international publication or, if international publication has not taken place by
 the expiration of 20 months from the priority date, before the expiration of 20
 months from the said priority date.
 

 
 

 

 
 PCT Article 38 

 Confidential Nature of the International Preliminary
 Examination. 

 
 (1) Neither the International Bureau nor the International Preliminary
 Examining Authority shall, unless requested or authorized by the applicant, allow
 access within the meaning, and with the proviso, of Article
 30(4) to the file of the international preliminary
 examination by any person or authority at any time, except by the elected Offices
 once the international preliminary examination report has been established.
 

 (2) Subject to the provisions of paragraph (1) and Articles 36(1) and
 (3) and 37(3)(b) , neither the
 International Bureau nor the International Preliminary Examining Authority shall,
 unless requested or authorized by the applicant, give information on the issuance
 or non-issuance of an international preliminary examination report and on the
 withdrawal or non-withdrawal of the demand or of any election.
 

 
 

 

 
 35 U.S.C. 368 
 Secrecy of certain inventions; filing international applications in foreign
 countries. 

 
 (a) International applications filed in the Patent and Trademark Office
 shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 17 .
 

 (b) In accordance with article 27(8) of the treaty,
 the filing of an international application in a country other than the United
 States on the invention made in this country shall be considered to constitute the
 filing of an application in a foreign country within the meaning of
 chapter
 17 , whether or not the United States is designated in that
 international application.
 

 (c) If a license to file in a foreign country is refused or if an
 international application is ordered to be kept secret and a permit refused, the
 Patent and Trademark Office when acting as a Receiving Office, International
 Searching Authority, or International Preliminary Examining Authority, may not
 disclose the contents of such application to anyone not authorized to receive such
 disclosure.
 

 
 

 

 Although most international applications are published soon after the
 expiration of 18 months from the priority date, PCT Article 21(2)(a) , such publication
 does not open up the Home Copy or Search Copy to the public for inspection, except as
 provided in 37 CFR
 1.14(g) .
 

 
 37 CFR 1.14 Patent applications preserved in confidence. 

 *****

 
 (g) International applications. 
 (1) Copies of international application files for international
 applications which designate the U.S. and which have been published in
 accordance with PCT Article 21(2) , or
 copies of a document in such application files, will be furnished in
 accordance with PCT Articles 30 and
 38 and PCT Rules 94.2 and
 94.3 , upon written request including a showing that
 the publication of the application has occurred and that the U.S. was
 designated, and upon payment of the appropriate fee (see § 1.19(b) ), if:
 
 (i) With respect to the Home Copy (the copy of the
 international application kept by the Office in its capacity as the
 Receiving Office, see PCT Article
 12(1) ), the international application was filed
 with the U.S. Receiving Office;
 

 (ii) With respect to the Search Copy (the copy of an
 international application kept by the Office in its capacity as the
 International Searching Authority, see PCT Article
 12(1) ), the U.S. acted as the International
 Searching Authority, except for the written opinion of the
 International Searching Authority which shall not be available until
 the expiration of thirty months from the priority date; or
 

 (iii) With respect to the Examination Copy (the copy of an
 international application kept by the Office in its capacity as the
 International Preliminary Examining Authority), the United States
 acted as the International Preliminary Examining Authority, an
 International Preliminary Examination Report has issued, and the
 United States was elected. 
 

 
 

 (2) A copy of an English language translation of a publication of
 an international application which has been filed in the United States
 Patent and Trademark Office pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 154(d)(4) will
 be furnished upon written request including a showing that the publication
 of the application in accordance with PCT Article 21(2) has
 occurred and that the U.S. was designated, and upon payment of the
 appropriate fee (§ 1.19(b)(4) ).
 

 (3) Access to international application files for international
 applications which designate the U.S. and which have been published in
 accordance with PCT Article 21(2) , or
 copies of a document in such application files, will be permitted in
 accordance with PCT Articles 30 and
 38 and PCT Rules 44 ter .1,
 94.2 and 94.3 , upon written
 request including a showing that the publication of the application has
 occurred and that the U.S. was designated. 
 

 (4) In accordance with PCT Article 30 , copies
 of an international application-as-filed under paragraph (a) of this section
 will not be provided prior to the international publication of the
 application pursuant to PCT Article 21(2) .
 

 (5) Access to international application files under paragraphs
 (a)(1)(i) through (a)(1)(vi) and (g)(3) of this section will not be
 permitted with respect to the Examination Copy in accordance with
 PCT
 Article 38 .
 

 
 

 
 *****

 

 

 37 CFR
 1.14(g) applies to international applications having an international
 filing date on or after November 29, 2000. After publication of an application under
 35 U.S.C.
 122(b) , the USPTO will make available copies of the application files
 and also allow for access to those files in accordance with 37 CFR 1.14(a) .
 Therefore, after publication of an international application designating the U.S. under
 PCT Article
 21 , the USPTO will make available copies of, and allow access to,
 those international application files which are kept in the USPTO (see 37 CFR 1.14(g) ).
 

 37 CFR
 1.14(g)(1) sets forth those conditions upon which copies of
 international application files may be provided to the public. 37 CFR 1.14(g)(1)(i) 
 and (ii) address the situation where the U.S. acted as the receiving Office and the
 International Searching Authority, respectively. Under these provisions, copies of the Home
 and Search Copies of the international file will be provided upon request. However, the
 written opinion established by the International Searching Authority will not be available
 until the expiration of 30 months from the priority date. 37 CFR
 1.14(g)(1)(iii) addresses the situation in which the U.S. acted as
 the International Preliminary Examining Authority (IPEA), the U.S. was elected, and the
 international preliminary examination report (IPER) has issued. PCT Rule 94.2 
 provides that after issuance of the IPER, the IPEA shall provide copies of any documents in
 the examination file to the elected Offices upon request. PCT Rule 94.3 permits
 the elected Offices to provide access to any documents in its files after international
 publication has occurred. Therefore, the USPTO acting in its capacity as an elected Office,
 will provide a copy of the examination file in an international application to a third
 party upon submission of a request complying with the requirements of 37 CFR
 1.14(g)(1)(iii) . Requests for copies of an international application
 file under 37 CFR
 1.14(g)(1) must be in the form of a written request sent to the
 International Patent Legal Administration and must include a showing that the international
 application has been published and that the U.S. was designated. Such a showing should
 preferably be in the form of the submission of a copy of the front page of the published
 international application. Additionally, requests for copies of international application
 files must also be accompanied by the appropriate fee ( 37 CFR 1.19(b) ).
 

 37 CFR
 1.14(g)(2) provides that copies of English language translations of
 international applications, which were published in a non-English language and which
 designated the U.S., and which have been submitted to the Office pursuant to
 35 U.S.C.
 154(d)(4) , will also be available to the public. The USPTO will not
 provide general notification to the public of the filing of English language translations
 under 35 U.S.C.
 154 . Under 35 U.S.C. 154 , it is the responsibility
 of the applicant to notify any possible infringers for the purposes of obtaining
 provisional rights.
 

 37 CFR
 1.14(g)(3) addresses access to the Home Copy and the Search Copy of
 the international application. Access to the Examination Copy of the international
 application is prohibited under 37 CFR
 1.14(g)(5) as required by PCT Article 38 . 
 

 [top] 

 

 

 
 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 101-General 

 102-Information as to Status of an Application 

 103-Right of Public To Inspect Patent Files and Some Application Files 

 104-Power to Inspect Application 

 105-Suspended or Excluded Practitioner Cannot Inspect 

 106-Control of Inspection by Assignee 
 106.01-Rights of Assignee of Part Interest 

 
 

 107‑109-[Reserved] 

 110-Confidential Nature of International Applications 

 111‑114-[Reserved] 

 115-Review of Applications for National Security and Property Rights Issues 

 116‑119-[Reserved] 

 120-Secrecy Orders 

 121-Handling of Applications under Secrecy Order and/or Bearing National Security Markings 

 122‑129-[Reserved] 

 130-Examination of Secrecy Order Cases 

 131‑139-[Reserved] 

 140-Foreign Filing Licenses 

 141‑149-[Reserved] 

 150-Statements to DOE and NASA 

 151-Content of the Statements 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

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