MPEP § 317 — MPEP § 317
Current through: 2022-07-01

317-Handling of Documents in the Assignment Recordation Branch 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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 Chapter 0300 

 Section 317 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 317 Handling of Documents in the Assignment Recordation
 Branch [R-01.2024]
 

 All documents and cover sheets submitted for recording are examined for
 formal requirements in the Assignment Recordation Branch in order to separate documents
 which are recordable from those which are not recordable.
 

 Documents and cover sheets that are considered not to be recordable are
 returned to the sender by the Assignment Recordation Branch with an explanation. If the
 sender disagrees or believes that the document represents an unusual case which justifies
 recordation, the sender may present the question to the Director by way of petition under
 37 CFR
 1.181 , filed with the Office of Petitions.
 

 After an assignment and cover sheet have been recorded, notification will
 be sent to the name and address indicated on the cover sheet to receive correspondence,
 showing the reel and frame number.
 

 
 317.01 Recording Date [R-08.2012]

 
 37 CFR 3.51 Recording date. 

 The date of recording of a document is the date the document meeting
 the requirements for recording set forth in this part is filed in the Office. A
 document which does not comply with the identification requirements of
 §
 3.21 will not be recorded. Documents not meeting the other
 requirements for recording, for example, a document submitted without a completed
 cover sheet or without the required fee, will be returned for correction to the
 sender where a correspondence address is available. The returned papers, stamped with
 the original date of receipt by the Office, will be accompanied by a letter which
 will indicate that if the returned papers are corrected and resubmitted to the Office
 within the time specified in the letter, the Office will consider the original date
 of filing of the papers as the date of recording of the document. The procedure set
 forth in §
 1.8 or § 1.10 of this chapter may be
 used for resubmissions of returned papers to have the benefit of the date of deposit
 in the United States Postal Service. If the returned papers are not corrected and
 resubmitted within the specified period, the date of filing of the corrected papers
 will be considered to be the date of recording of the document. The specified period
 to resubmit the returned papers will not be extended.
 

 

 

 The date of recording of a document is the date the document meeting the
 requirements for recording set forth in the regulations is filed in the Office. A
 document which does not comply with the identification requirements of 37 CFR 3.21 will
 not be recorded. Documents not meeting the other requirements for recording, for
 example, a document submitted without a completed cover sheet or without the required
 fee, will be returned for correction to the sender when a correspondence address is
 available.
 

 

 
 317.02 Correction of Unrecorded Returned Documents and Cover Sheets [R-01.2024]

 Assignment documents and cover sheets, or copies of the same, which are
 returned by the Assignment Recordation Branch will indicate the original date of receipt
 by the Office and will be accompanied by a letter which will indicate that if the
 returned papers are corrected and resubmitted to the Office within the time specified in
 the letter, the Office will consider the original date of receipt of the papers as the
 date of recording of the document. See 37 CFR 3.51 . The certification
 procedure under 37 CFR
 1.8 (see MPEP § 512 ) or the “Priority Mail
 Express ® ” procedure under 37 CFR 1.10 (see
 MPEP §
 513 ) may be used for resubmissions of returned papers to
 obtain the benefit of the date of deposit in the United States Postal Service to
 establish that the papers were returned within the time period specified. If the
 returned papers are not corrected and resubmitted within the specified period, the date
 of receipt of the corrected papers will be considered to be the date of recording of the
 document. The specified period to resubmit the returned papers will not be extended.
 

 

 
 317.03 Effect of Recording [R-10.2019]

 
 37 CFR 3.54 Effect of recording. 

 The recording of a document pursuant to § 3.11 is
 not a determination by the Office of the validity of the document or the effect that
 document has on the title to an application, a patent, or a registration. When
 necessary, the Office will determine what effect a document has, including whether a
 party has the authority to take an action in a matter pending before the Office.
 

 

 

 
 37 CFR 3.56 Conditional assignments. 

 Assignments which are made conditional on the performance of certain
 acts or events, such as the payment of money or other condition subsequent, if
 recorded in the Office, are regarded as absolute assignments for Office purposes
 until canceled with the written consent of all parties or by the decree of a court of
 competent jurisdiction. The Office does not determine whether such conditions have
 been fulfilled.
 

 

 

 The recording of a document is not a determination by the Office of the
 validity of the document or the effect that document has on the title to an application
 or patent. See Realvirt, LLC v. Lee, 195 F.Supp.3d 847, 862-3 (E.D.
 Va. 2016). When necessary, the Office will determine what effect a document has,
 including whether a party has the authority to take an action in a matter pending before
 the Office. See MPEP §§
 324 and 325 .
 

 37 CFR
 3.56 provides that an assignment, which at the time of its
 execution is conditional on a given act or event, will be treated by the Office as an
 absolute assignment. This rule serves as notification as to how a conditional assignment
 will be treated by the Office in any proceeding requiring a determination of the owner
 of an application, patent, or registration. Since the Office will not determine whether
 a condition has been fulfilled, the Office will treat the submission of such an
 assignment for recordation as signifying that the act or event has occurred. A security
 agreement that does not convey the right, title, and interest of a patent property is
 not a conditional assignment.
 

 In accordance with the subsequent purchaser provision in
 35 U.S.C.
 261 , if an assignment is not timely recorded at the USPTO, the
 unrecorded assignment will not be superior to the rights acquired by a third party, i.e.
 a bona fide purchaser, for valuable consideration if that third party did not have
 knowledge of the unrecorded assignment. See CMS Industries, Inc. v. L.P.S.
 International, Ltd., 643 F.2d 289, 217 USPQ 20 (5th Cir. 1981).
 

 

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 301-Ownership/Assignability of Patents and Applications 
 301.01-Accessibility of Assignment Records 

 
 

 302-Recording of Assignment Documents 
 302.01-Assignment Document Must Be Copy for Recording 

 302.02-Translation of Assignment Document 

 302.03-Identifying Patent or Application 

 302.04-Foreign Assignee May Designate Domestic Representative 

 302.05-Address of Assignee 

 302.06-Fee for Recording 

 302.07-Assignment Document Must Be Accompanied by a Cover Sheet 

 302.08-Mailing Address for Submitting Assignment Documents 

 302.09-Facsimile Submission of Assignment Documents 

 302.10-Electronic Submission of Assignment Documents 

 
 

 303-Assignment Documents Not Endorsed on Pending Applications 

 304‑305-[Reserved] 

 306-Assignment of Division, Continuation, Substitute, and Continuation-in-Part in Relation to Parent Application 
 306.01-Assignment of an Application Claiming the Benefits of a Provisional Application 

 
 

 307-Issue to Non-Applicant Assignee 

 308-Issue to Applicant 

 309-Restrictions Upon Employees of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office 

 310-Government License Rights to Contractor-Owned Inventions Made Under Federally Sponsored Research and Development 

 311-Filing of Notice of Arbitration Awards 

 312-[Reserved] 

 313-Recording of Licenses, Security Interests, and Documents Other Than Assignments 

 314-Certificates of Change of Name or of Merger 

 315-Indexing Against a Recorded Certificate 

 316-[Reserved] 

 317-Handling of Documents in the Assignment Recordation Branch 
 317.01-Recording Date 

 317.02-Correction of Unrecorded Returned Documents and Cover Sheets 

 317.03-Effect of Recording 

 
 

 318-Documents Not to be Placed in Files 

 319-[Reserved] 

 320-Title Reports 

 321‑322-[Reserved] 

 323-Procedures for Correcting Errors in Recorded Assignment Document 
 323.01-Correction of Error in Recorded Cover Sheet 
 323.01(a)-Typographical Errors in Cover Sheet 

 323.01(b)-Typographical Errors in Recorded Assignment Document 

 323.01(c)-Assignment or Change of Name Improperly Filed and Recorded by Another Person Against Owner’s Application or Patent 

 323.01(d)-Expungement of Assignment Records 

 
 

 
 

 324-Establishing Right of Assignee To Take Action in Application Filed Before September 16, 2012 

 325-Establishing Right of Assignee To Take Action in Application Filed On or After September 16, 2012 

 

 

 
 

 
 
 

 
 

 

 
 
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 Last Modified: 
 
 03/09/2026 20:50:51