Page:Compendium of US Copyright Office Practices (1973).pdf/383

S-5 No.2

PATENT APPLICATIONS

Under the Patent Law, the material contained in a patent application goes into the public domain when a patent is issued; and a patent application must be filed in the Patent Office within one year after the invention has been described in any printed publication.

A copyright claim in the text description or in the drawings or photographs in a patent application will not be registered after the patent has been issued.

Before a patent application has been filed or while it is pending in the Patent Office, a copy­right claim in the text description or in the drawings or photographs may be registered for copyright; but we will warn the applicant (1) that copyright will not protect the idea or invention, (2) if the patent application has not been filed, that the time for filing it in the Patent Office may expire one year after publication or (if the work has not been published) one year after registration, and (3) that if he obtains a patent, copyright on the material in the patent application may cease when the patent is issued.

When a patent application has been rejected by the Patent Office, a copyright claim in the material in the application may be registered. The filing of the application in the Patent Office will not be considered publication in the copyright sense. [December 1952]