500

OCR transcription for search; preserved printed pages are authoritative

# Chapter 500 Receipt and Handling of Mail and Papers

501
Papers Received by Mail Branch

502
Depositing Papers

503
Serial Number and Filing Receipt

504
Register of Applications

505
"Office Date" Stamp

506.01

506
Completeness of Original Application

507
Return of Incomplete Application

508
Drafting Branch
Distribution

508.01
Papers Sent to Wrong Division

## 501 Papers Received by Mail Branch

All patent applications are received by the
Mail Branch (Correspondence and Mail
Branch), which opens and distributes all offi-
cial mail and promptly forwards all remit-
tances to the Finance Officer for proper appli-
cation.

On receipt of the application, the fee and
the application are forwarded to the Finance
Officer where proper entry and record are made.
The application is then returned to the Mail
Branch which forwards it to the Application
Branch.

## 502 Depositing Papers

The application having been prepared and
executed, it can be sent to the Patent Office by
mail or express, or may be delivered by hand.
Amendments and other papers reach the Of-
fice by mail, or in Washington they may be
deposited in the Mail Branch or in a box which
is kept at the Patent Office for this purpose.

Rule 6. Receipt of letters and papers. (a) Letters
and other papers received in the Patent Office are
stamped with the date of receipt. No papers are re-
ceived in the Patent Office on Saturdays, Sundays or
holidays within the District of Columbia.

(b) Mail placed in the Patent Office pouch up to
midnight on weekdays, excepting holidays, by the post
office at Washington, D. C., serving the Patent Office,
is considered as having been received in the Patent
Office on the day it was so placed in the pouch.

(c) In addition to being mailed or delivered by hand
during office hours, letters and other papers may be
deposited up to midnight in a box provided at the

guard's desk at the 14th and E Street entrance of the
Patent Office on weekdays except Saturdays and holi-
days, and all papers deposited therein are considered
as received in the Patent Office on the day of deposit.

503 Serial Number and Filing Receipt
In the Application Branch each application
which meets the formal requirements as to com-
pleteness is immediately given a serial number
and a filing date. Since the serial numbers are
limited to six digits, a new series is started from
time to time. The current series was started in
1948. It is therefore important, when referring
to application files, to identify them by their
filing dates as well as by serial number.

The Application Branch mails a receipt to
the attorney or agent, if any, otherwise to the
applicant, for each application filed, giving the
serial number, filing date, and division to which
assigned.

In the Application Branch the application
papers, with the exception of the drawing, are
placed in a jacket and the data listed in 717.02
are placed thereon.

## 504 Register of Applications

The Application Branch assigns the applica-
tion to the examining division to which it ap-
pears to belong. A list of all applications ar-
ranged by serial numbers as well as an alpha-
betically arranged card index of the applicants
is kept by the Application Branch and the
identification of the division to which each ap-
plication is sent is made part of this record.

## 505 "Office Date" Stamp of Receipt

In whatever manner an application or any
part thereof, or an amendment, letter, or other
paper is received by the Office, the date of its
receipt is at once stamped thereon. This stamp
is applied by the Mail Branch, except that in the
case of prints or sketches mounted on Bristol
Board by the Application Branch, the stamp is
applied by the Application Branch. The stamp
is referred to as the "Office Date" stamp and, if
the application is complete (See Rule 55), estab-
lishes the "filing date."

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506

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## 506 Determination of Completeness of Original Application

If the application papers are too informal to
warrant their being forwarded to the proper
examining division, they are not given a serial
number, but the case is held in the Application
Branch as an incomplete application and the
attorney or agent, if any, otherwise the appli-
cant, is informed of the shortcomings of the
papers.

Such fatal informality may consist of the
omission of any one of the component parts of
an application except the petition (see Chapter
600) ; or it may consist of failure of notary to
sign the jurat, failure to present any claim,
insufficient fee, etc.

### 506.01 Return of Incomplete Appli- cation

If a request is made, the parts of the incom-
plete application are returned to the applicant;
otherwise, the papers are retained in the Appli-
cation Branch for at least six months, and then
sent to the abandoned files. They may be used
by applicant as part of a complete application
if the missing parts are later supplied. See
Rule 53.

Whatever fee has been paid is returned to the
applicant at the end of twelve months, if no
steps have meanwhile been taken looking to
completion of the application.

### 507 Drafting Branch

' The drawing is sent to the Drafting Branch
to be inspected for formal compliance with the
rules. If the drawing is satisfactory, or if it
contains defects which are not so serious as
to warrant holding the application to be incom-

plete, the Draftsman enters the appropriate
notation (608.02 (a) and 608.02 (b)).

If the drawings are so informal that they
may not serve for examination purposes or for
the purpose of receiving a filing date, the
Draftsman writes in lead pencil on the margin
of the drawing "Inf." (Informal). The draw-
ings are then returned to the Application
Branch, which writes the applicant that the
application is incomplete and will not be given
a date and serial number until a proper draw-
ing is filed.

### 508 Distribution

The Application Branch has permanent
prints made of the drawings of all complete
applications and secures the prints in the file
wrappers. The drawings and files are then
assembled and forwarded to the proper exam-
ining divisions.

In the exceptional case where an application
without a drawing is given a filing date and the
Examiner subsequently requires a drawing, or
where for any other reason a new sheet or draw-
ing is added by amendment, a print of such
drawing is made and forwarded to the division
to be placed in the file as an official paper.

As to the procedure to be followed when a
model is filed, see 608.03 and 608.03 (a).

### 508.01 Papers Sent to Wrong Division

Drawings, amendments and other papers that
are delivered to divisions to which they do not
belong must be promptly forwarded to the as-
signed division. The Application Branch may
be called to determine the correct assignment.

Communications addressed in the name of
the Executive Officer which, by error or for in-
formation only, may be delivered to an exam-
ining division, should be promptly returned to
the Correspondence and Mail Branch.

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