§ 368. — Secrecy of certain inventions; filing international applications in foreign countries.
[Laws in effect as of January 24, 2002]
[Document not affected by Public Laws enacted between
January 24, 2002 and December 19, 2002]
[CITE: 35USC368]
TITLE 35--PATENTS
PART IV--PATENT COOPERATION TREATY
CHAPTER 36--INTERNATIONAL STAGE
Sec. 368. Secrecy of certain inventions; filing international
applications in foreign countries
(a) International applications filed in the Patent and Trademark
Office shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 17 of this title.
(b) In accordance with article 27(8) of the treaty, the filing of an
international application in a country other than the United States on
the invention made in this country shall be considered to constitute the
filing of an application in a foreign country within the meaning of
chapter 17 of this title, whether or not the United States is designated
in that international application.
(c) If a license to file in a foreign country is refused or if an
international application is ordered to be kept secret and a permit
refused, the Patent and Trademark Office when acting as a Receiving
Office, International Searching Authority, or International Preliminary
Examining Authority, may not disclose the contents of such application
to anyone not authorized to receive such disclosure.
(Added Pub. L. 94-131, Sec. 1, Nov. 14, 1975, 89 Stat. 687; amended Pub.
L. 98-622, title IV, Sec. 403(a), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3392; Pub. L.
99-616, Sec. 6, Nov. 6, 1986, 100 Stat. 3486.)
Amendments
1986--Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99-616 substituted a comma for ``or''
after ``Receiving Office'' and ``International Preliminary Examining
Authority'' for ``both''.
1984--Subsecs. (a), (c). Pub. L. 98-622 substituted ``Patent and
Trademark Office'' for ``Patent Office''.
Effective Date of 1986 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 99-616 effective July 1, 1987, and applicable
to all international applications pending before or after that date, see
section 9 of Pub. L. 99-616, set out as a note under section 351 of this
title.
Effective Date of 1984 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 98-622 effective Nov. 8, 1984, see section
406(a) of Pub. L. 98-622, set out as a note under section 351 of this
title.
