Commerce Department, Patent and Trademark Office
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) is adopting the new USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct (USPTO Rules), which are based on the American Bar Association's (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct (ABA Model Rules), which were published in 1983, substantially revised in 2003 and updated through 2012. The Office has also revised the existing procedural rules governing disciplinary investigations and proceedings. These changes will enable the Office to better protect the public while also providing practitioners with substantially uniform disciplinary rules across multiple jurisdictions.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Commerce Patent and Trademark Office 37 CFR Parts 1, 2, 7, 10, 11 and 41 [Docket No. PTO-C-2012-0034] RIN 0651-AC81 AGENCY: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Commerce. ACTION: Final rule. SUMMARY: The United States Patent and Trademark Office (Office or USPTO) is adopting the new USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct (USPTO Rules), which are based on the American Bar Association's (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct (ABA Model Rules), which were published in 1983, substantially revised in 2003 and updated through 2012. The Office has also revised the existing procedural rules governing disciplinary investigations and proceedings. These changes will enable the Office to better protect the public while also providing practitioners with substantially uniform disciplinary rules across multiple jurisdictions. DATES: Effective Date: May 3, 2013. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William R. Covey, Deputy General Counsel for Enrollment and Discipline and Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline, by telephone at 571-272-4097. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Executive Summary Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2)(D) , the Office governs “the recognition and conduct of agents, attorneys, or other persons representing applicants or other parties before the Office.” The Office also has the authority to suspend or exclude from practice before the Office any practitioner who is “shown to be incompetent or disreputable, or guilty of gross misconduct,…
Other Federal Register documents from the same docket.
Citation: 78 FR 20180
