U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Cannot Aid in Selection of Patent Practitioner

37 CFR 1.31  Applicant may be represented by one or more patent practitioners or joint

inventors.

An applicant for patent may file and prosecute the applicant's own case,

or the applicant may give power of attorney so as to be represented by one or more

patent practitioners or joint inventors, except that a juristic entity (e.g.,

organizational assignee) must be represented by a patent practitioner even if the

juristic entity is the applicant. The Office cannot aid in the selection of a patent

practitioner.

An applicant who is a juristic entity must be represented by a patent

practitioner. An applicant for patent, other than a juristic entity (e.g., organizational

assignee), may file and prosecute their own application, and thus act as their own

representative (

pro se

) before the Office. See

37 CFR 1.31

. In

presenting (whether by signing, filing, submitting, or later advocating) papers to the

Office, a

pro se

applicant is making the certifications under

37 CFR

11.18(b)

, and may be subject to sanctions under

37 CFR 11.18(c)

for

violations of

37 CFR

11.18(b)(2)

. See

37 CFR 1.4(d)(4)

. See also

MPEP §§

402.03

and

410

.

If patentable subject matter appears to be disclosed in a

pro

se

application and it is apparent that the applicant is unfamiliar with the

proper preparation and prosecution of patent applications, the examiner may suggest to the

applicant that it may be desirable to employ a registered patent attorney or agent, but the

Office cannot aid in selecting a patent practitioner. A listing of registered patent

attorneys and agents is available at

www.uspto.gov/FindPatentAttorney

. Interested parties may also obtain a

list of registered patent practitioners located in their area by writing to the Office of

Enrollment and Discipline (OED) at Mail Stop OED, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark

Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. The examiner should not suggest that

applicant employ a patent practitioner if the application appears to contain no patentable

subject matter

parties may also obtain a

list of registered patent practitioners located in their area by writing to the Office of

Enrollment and Discipline (OED) at Mail Stop OED, Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark

Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450. The examiner should not suggest that

applicant employ a patent practitioner if the application appears to contain no patentable

subject matter. It is suggested that form paragraph

4.10

be incorporated in an

Office action if the use of a patent practitioner is considered desirable and if patentable

subject matter exists in the application.