Commissioner of Patents

“ However this may be, the reissued letters are so clearly for a different invention from that for which the patentee first applied, containing new matter, and so much broader, that we are constrained to hold that the Commissioner of Patents had no authority to grant them, and consequently that they are void. ”

“ St. § 4916, to consider the application upon the bare statement that the patentee desired to surrender his patent and obtain a reissue. The commissioner is authorized to reissue patents in certain specified cases, and, if the petition makes no pretense of setting forth facts entitling the patentee to a reissue, it is exceedingly doubtful whether he obtains any jurisdiction to act at all. ”

“ Counsel of the complainant concede that the machines were constructed and put in operation by the consent and license of the assignees of the patentees, and that the respondent had the full right to continue to use and operate the same throughout the entire period of the extension granted by the Commissioner of Patents. ”

“ The Patent and Trademark Office does not mail notices to patent owners that maintenance fees are due. If, however, the maintenance fee is not paid on time, efforts are made to remind the responsible party that the maintenance fee may be paid during the grace period with a surcharge.
Patents relating to some pharmaceutical inventions may be extended by the Commissioner for up to five years to compensate for marketing delays due to Federal premarketing regulatory procedures. Patents relating to all other types of inventions may be extended for certain circumstances as provided by law. ”

“ Where an invention is for distinct combinations which are separable, and where it embraces two distinct improvements, one having respect to the operative part of the machine and the other to the motive power, it is entirely competent for the commissioner to grant separate claims for the two combinations in the same patent, or he may, under existing laws, grant separate patents for each combination, if it is new and produces a new and useful result. ”

“ The Commissioner for Patents and the Commissioner for Trademarks shall serve as the chief operating officers for the operations of the Office relating to patents and trademarks, respectively, and shall be responsible for the management and direction of all aspects of the activities of the Office that affect the administration of patent and trademark operations, respectively. ”

“ If timely payment of the issue fee is not made, the application will be regarded as abandoned. See current fee schedule.
A provision is made in the statute whereby the Commissioner may accept the fee late, when the delay is shown to be unavoidable. When the issue fee is paid, the patent issues as soon as possible after the date of payment, dependent upon the volume of printing on hand. The patent grant then is delivered or mailed on the day of its grant, or as soon thereafter as possible, to the inventor’s attorney or agent if there is one of record, otherwise directly to the inventor. ”

“ The word 'holder' here used, it must be observed, is a general term, and cannot be so restricted as to apply only to one who holds the entire interest in a patent; but is equally applicable to those who hold any exclusively territorial interest.
Moreover, the thirteenth section of the act of 1836, which first established the reissue, as now granted, grants unto any assignee the same right to a reissue that it grants to the patentee. ”