MPEP § 106 — MPEP § 106
Current through: 2022-07-01

106-Control of Inspection by Assignee 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Manual of Patent Examining Procedure 

 Chapter 0100 

 Section 106 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 106 Control of Inspection by Assignee [R-11.2013]

 The applicant or assignee of record of the entire interest in an
 application may file an application or intervene in the prosecution of the application,
 appointing an attorney or agent of his or her own choice. See 37 CFR 1.46 and
 3.71 . Such an application filing or intervention, however, does not
 exclude the inventor from access to the application to see that it is being prosecuted
 properly, unless the applicant or assignee makes specific request to that effect. Any
 request to prevent the inventor from obtaining access to the file should be filed as a
 separate paper, 37 CFR
 1.4(c) , and should be directed to the Office of Petitions. If the
 request is granted, the inventor will be informed that he or she will only be permitted to
 inspect the application on sufficient showing why such inspection is necessary to conserve
 his or her rights. Of course, after the application has published pursuant to
 35 U.S.C.
 122(b) , the application will be available to the public and any
 restriction on the inventor to access his or her application previously granted will no
 longer be in effect.
 

 
 106.01 Rights of Assignee of Part Interest [R-11.2013]

 While it is only the assignee of record of the entire interest who can
 intervene in the prosecution of an application or interference to the exclusion of the
 applicant (or, for applications filed on or after September 16, 2012, can prosecute the
 application after becoming the applicant under 37 CFR 1.46 ), an assignee of a part
 interest or a licensee of exclusive right is entitled to inspect the application. For
 information pertaining to prosecution by the assignee, see MPEP § 324 (for
 applications filed before September 16, 2012) and MPEP §
 325 (for applications filed on or after September 16,
 2012).
 

 

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 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