MPEP § 1480 — MPEP § 1480
Current through: 2022-07-01

1480-Certificates of Correction — Office Mistake 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 1400 

 Section 1480 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 1480 Certificates of Correction — Office Mistake [R-07.2022]

 
 35 U.S.C. 254 
 Certificate of correction of Patent and Trademark Office mistake. 

 Whenever a mistake in a patent, incurred through the fault of the
 Patent and Trademark Office, is clearly disclosed by the records of the Office, the
 Director may issue a certificate of correction stating the fact and nature of such
 mistake, under seal, without charge, to be recorded in the records of patents. A printed
 copy thereof shall be attached to each printed copy of the patent, and such certificate
 shall be considered as part of the original patent. Every such patent, together with
 such certificate, shall have the same effect and operation in law on the trial of
 actions for causes thereafter arising as if the same had been originally issued in such
 corrected form. The Director may issue a corrected patent without charge in lieu of and
 with like effect as a certificate of correction.
 

 

 
 37 CFR 1.322 Certificate of correction of Office mistake. 

 
 (a)
 
 (1) The Director may issue a certificate of correction
 pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 254 to correct
 a mistake in a patent, incurred through the fault of the Office, which
 mistake is clearly disclosed in the records of the Office:
 
 (i) At the request of the patentee or the patentee’s
 assignee;
 

 (ii) Acting sua sponte for mistakes
 that the Office discovers; or
 

 (iii) Acting on information about a mistake supplied by a
 third party.
 

 
 

 (2)
 
 (i) There is no obligation on the Office to act on or
 respond to a submission of information or request to issue a
 certificate of correction by a third party under paragraph (a)(1)(iii)
 of this section.
 

 (ii) Papers submitted by a third party under this section
 will not be made of record in the file that they relate to nor be
 retained by the Office.
 

 
 

 (3) If the request relates to a patent involved in an
 interference or trial before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the request
 must comply with the requirements of this section and be accompanied by a
 motion under § 41.121(a)(2) ,
 §
 41.121(a)(3) , or §
 42.20 of this title.
 

 (4) The Office will not issue a certificate of correction under
 this section without first notifying the patentee (including any assignee of
 record) at the correspondence address of record as specified in
 §
 1.33(a) and affording the patentee or an assignee an
 opportunity to be heard.
 

 
 

 (b) If the nature of the mistake on the part of the Office is such
 that a certificate of correction is deemed inappropriate in form, the Director may
 issue a corrected patent in lieu thereof as a more appropriate form for
 certificate of correction, without expense to the patentee.
 

 
 

 Mistakes incurred through the fault of the Office may be the subject of
 certificates of correction under 37 CFR 1.322 . The Office, however, has
 discretion under 35
 U.S.C. 254 to decline to issue a certificate of correction even
 though an Office mistake exists. If Office mistakes are of such a nature that the meaning
 intended is obvious from the context, the Office may decline to issue a certificate and
 merely place the correspondence in the patented file, where it serves to call attention to
 the matter in case any question as to it subsequently arises. Such is the case, even where
 a correction is requested by the patentee or patentee’s assignee.
 

 In order to expedite all proper requests, a certificate of correction
 should be requested only for errors of consequence. Instead of a request for a certificate
 of correction, letters making errors of record should be utilized whenever possible. Thus,
 where errors are of a minor typographical nature, or are readily apparent to one skilled in
 the art, a letter making the error(s) of record can be submitted in lieu of a request for a
 certificate of correction. There is no fee for the submission of such a letter.
 

 It is strongly advised that the text of the correction requested be
 submitted on a certificate of correction form, PTO/SB/44 (also referred to as PTO-1050).
 Submission of this form in duplicate is not necessary. The location of the error in the
 printed patent should be identified on form PTO/SB/44 by column and line number or claim
 and line number. See MPEP §
 1485 for a discussion of the preparation and submission of a
 request for a certificate of correction.
 

 A request for a certificate of correction filed via the
 USPTO patent electronic filing system should use the document description: Request for
 Certificate of Correction.
 

 A request for a certificate of correction should be addressed to:

 Commissioner for Patents
Office of Data Management Attention: Certificates of
 Correction Branch
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
 

 I. THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION ON MISTAKES IN PATENT Third parties do not have standing to demand that the Office issue, or
 refuse to issue, a certificate of correction. See Hallmark Cards, Inc. v.
 Lehman, 959 F. Supp. 539, 543-44, 42 USPQ2d 1134, 1138 (D.D.C. 1997).
 37 CFR
 1.322(a)(2) makes it clear that third parties do not have standing
 to demand that the Office act on, respond to, issue, or refuse to issue a certificate of
 correction. The Office is, however, cognizant of the need for the public to have correct
 information about published patents and may therefore accept information about mistakes
 in patents from third parties. 37 CFR 1.322(a)(1)(iii) . Where
 appropriate, the Office may issue certificates of correction based on information
 supplied by third parties, whether or not such information is accompanied by a specific
 request for issuance of a certificate of correction. While third parties are permitted
 to submit information about mistakes in patents which information will be reviewed, the
 Office need not act on that information nor respond to accompanying request for issuance
 of a certificate of correction. Accordingly, a fee for submission of the information by
 a third party has not been imposed. The Office may, however, choose to issue a
 certificate of correction on its own initiative based on the information supplied by a
 third party, if it desires to do so. If the Office chooses to issue a certificate of
 correction on its own initiative, the Office will mail a notice of intent to issue a
 certificate of correction to the patentee setting a time period to respond. Regardless
 of whether the third-party request for a certificate of correction and/or information is
 acted upon, the information will not be made of record in the file that it relates to,
 and it will not be retained by the Office. 37 CFR 1.322(a)(2)(ii) .
 

 

 When such third-party information (about mistakes in patents) is
 received by the Office, the Office will not correspond with third parties
 about the information they submitted either (1) to inform the third parties of whether
 it intends to issue a certificate of correction, or (2) to issue a denial of any request
 for issuance of a certificate of correction that may accompany the information. The
 Office will confirm to the party submitting such information that the Office has in fact
 received the information if a stamped, self-addressed post card has been submitted. See
 MPEP §
 503 .
 

 A third-party request should be clearly labeled as a
 “Third-Party Request for Certificate of Correction” to facilitate Office processing. A
 third-party request for a certificate of correction must not be filed by the USPTO
 patent electronic filing system.
 

 II. PUBLICATION IN THE OFFICIAL GAZETTE Each issue of the Official Gazette (patents section)
 numerically lists all United States patents having certificates of correction. The list
 appears under the heading “Certificates of Correction for the week of (date).” 
 

 
 1480.01 Expedited Issuance of Certificates of Correction - Error
 Attributable to Office [R-01.2024]
 

 In an effort to reduce the overall time required in processing and
 granting certificate of correction requests, the Office will expedite processing and
 granting of patentee requests where such requests are accompanied by evidence to show
 that the error is attributable solely to the Office (i.e., requests filed pursuant to
 37 CFR
 1.322 only).
 

 The following requirements must be met for consideration of expedited
 issuance of certificates of correction:
 

 The text of the correction requested should be submitted on a
 certificate of correction form, PTO/SB/44 (also referred to as PTO-1050). Submission of
 this form in duplicate is not necessary. The location of the error in the printed patent
 should be identified on form PTO/SB/44 by column and line number or claim and line
 number. See also MPEP §
 1485 .
 

 Where the correction requested was incurred through the fault of the
 Office, and the matter is clearly disclosed in the records of the Office, and is
 accompanied by documentation that unequivocally supports the patentee’s assertion(s), a
 certificate of correction will be expeditiously issued. Such supporting documentation
 can consist of relevant photocopied receipts, manuscript pages, correspondence dated and
 received by the Office, photocopies of Examiners’ responses regarding entry of
 amendments, or any other validation that supports the patentee’s request so that the
 request can be processed without the patent file.
 

 Where only part of a request can be approved, the patentee will be
 notified using the Notification of Approval-in-part form PTOL-404. Further consideration
 will be given to initially rejected requests upon a request for reconsideration. In this
 instance, however, or in the case where it is determined that the Office was not
 responsible for the error(s) cited by the patentee, accelerated issuance of certificates
 of correction cannot be anticipated (although the Office will make every effort to
 process the request expeditiously).
 

 A request for expedited issuance of a certificate of
 correction filed via the USPTO patent electronic filing system should use the document
 description: Request for Certificate of Correction.
 

 As in the case of a request for a certificate of correction, a Request
 for Expedited Issuance of Certificate of Correction should be addressed to: 
 

 Commissioner for Patents
Office of Data Management Attention: Certificates of
 Correction Branch
P.O. Box 1450
Alexandria, VA 22313-1450
 

 

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 1400.01-Introduction 

 1401-Reissue 

 1402-Grounds for Filing 

 1403-Diligence in Filing 

 1404-Submission of Papers Where Reissue Patent Is in Litigation 

 1405-Reissue and Patent Term 

 1406-Citation and Consideration of References Cited in Original Patent 

 1407-1409-[Reserved] 

 1410-Content of Reissue Application 
 1410.01-Reissue Applicant and Inventor's Oath or Declaration 

 1410.02-Assignee Consent to the Reissue 

 
 

 1411-Form of Specification 
 1411.01-Certificate of Correction or Disclaimer in Original Patent 

 1411.02-New Matter 

 
 

 1412-Content of Claims 
 1412.01-Reissue Claims Must Be for Same General Invention 

 1412.02-Recapture of Canceled Subject Matter 

 1412.03-Broadening Reissue Claims 

 1412.04-Correction of Inventorship By Reissue 

 1412.05-Correction of Inventorship in a Broadening Reissue Application 

 
 

 1413-Drawings 

 1414-Content of Reissue Oath/Declaration 
 1414.01-Reissue Oath or Declaration in Reissue Application Filed On or After September 16, 2012 

 1414.02-Reissue Oath or Declaration in Reissue Application Filed Before September 16, 2012 

 1414.03-Supplemental Reissue Oath/Declaration 

 
 

 1415-Reissue Application and Issue Fees 
 1415.01-Maintenance Fees on the Original Patent 

 
 

 1416-No Physical Surrender of Original Patent 

 1417-Claim for Priority Under 35 U.S.C. 119(a)-(d) 

 1418-Notification of Prior/Concurrent Proceedings and Decisions Thereon, and of Information Known To Be Material to Patentability 

 1419-1429-[Reserved] 

 1430-Reissue Files Open to the Public and, Notice of Filing Reissue Announced in, Official Gazette 

 1431-1439-[Reserved] 

 1440-Examination of Reissue Application 

 1441-Two-Month Delay Period 
 1441.01-Protest and Pre-issuance Submission in Reissue Applications 

 
 

 1442-Special Status 
 1442.01-Litigation-Related or PTAB Trial-Related Reissues 

 1442.02-Concurrent Litigation or Trial Before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board 

 1442.03-Litigation Stayed 

 1442.04-Litigation Involving Patent 

 1442.05-Court Ordered Filing of Reissue Application 

 
 

 1443-Initial Examiner Review 

 1444-Review of Reissue Oath/Declaration 

 1445-Reissue Application Examined in Same Manner as Original Application 

 1446-1447-[Reserved] 

 1448-Fraud, Inequitable Conduct, or Duty of Disclosure Issues 

 1449-Protest Filed in Reissue Where Patent Is in Interference or Contested Case 
 1449.01-Concurrent Office Proceedings 

 1449.02-Interference in Reissue 

 1449.03-Reissue Application in Derivation Proceeding 

 
 

 1450-Restriction and Election of Species Made in Reissue Application 

 1451-Divisional Reissue Applications; Continuation Reissue Applications Where the Parent is Pending 

 1452-Request for Continued Examination of Reissue Application 

 1453-Amendments to Reissue Applications 

 1454-Appeal Brief 

 1455-Allowance and Issue 

 1456-Reissue Review 

 1457-Design Reissue Applications and Patents 

 1458-1459-[Reserved] 

 1460-Effect of Reissue 

 1461-1469-[Reserved] 

 1470-Public Access to Reissue Applications 

 1471-1479-[Reserved] 

 1480-Certificates of Correction — Office Mistake 
 1480.01-Expedited Issuance of Certificates of Correction - Error Attributable to Office 

 
 

 1481-Certificates of Correction - Applicant’s Mistake 
 1481.01-Correction of Assignees’ Names 

 1481.02-Correction of Named Inventor 

 1481.03-Correction of 35 U.S.C. 119 and 35 U.S.C. 120 Benefits 

 
 

 1482-1484-[Reserved] 

 1485-Handling of Request for Certificates of Correction 

 1486-1489-[Reserved] 

 1490-Disclaimers 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 03/09/2026 20:50:35