The Constitution of the United States provides:
“Art. 1, Sec. 8. The Congress shall have power . . . To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.”
Pursuant to the provision of the Constitution, Congress has over the years passed a number of statutes under which the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is organized and our patent system is established. The provisions of the statutes can in no way be changed or waived by the USPTO.
Patent laws are codified in Title 35 of the United States Code. In referring to a particular section of the patent code the citation is given, for example, as, 35 U.S.C. 1. The United States Code is available online at http://uscode.house.gov/.
Upon occasion, additional provisions pertaining to patents are set forth in a Public Law but are not codified. The Public Laws are available at www.congress.gov/public-laws.
The USPTO is authorized by statute, subject to the policy direction of the Secretary of Commerce, to establish regulations, not inconsistent with law, for the conduct of proceedings in the USPTO. The rules govern examiners and other Office personnel, applicants, patent practitioners, and third parties. These regulations or rules and amendments thereto are published in the Federal Register and in the Official Gazette.
In the Federal Register and in the Code of Federal Regulations, the rules pertaining to patents are in Title 37, Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights. In referring to a particular section of the rules the citation is given, for example, as 37 CFR 1.31.
