Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 98 Part 3.djvu/1012

 98 STAT. 3384

Public availability. Regulations.

Report.

PUBLIC LAW 98-622—NOV. 8, 1984

"(3) waives the right to receive a patent on the invention within such period as may be prescribed by the Commissioner; and "(4) pays appHcation, publication, and other processing fees established by the Commissioner. If an interference is declared with respect to such an application, a statutory invention registration may not be published unless the issue of priority of invention is finally determined in favor of the applicant. '(b) The waiver under subsection (a)(3) of this section by an applicant shall take effect upon publication of the statutory invention registration. "(c) A statutory invention registration published pursuant to this section shall have all of the attributes specified for patents in this title except those specified in section 183 and sections 271 through 289 of this title. A statutory invention registration shall not have any of the attributes specified for patents in any other provision of law other than this title. A statutory invention registration published pursuant to this section shall give appropriate notice to the public, pursuant to regulations which the Commissioner shall issue, of the preceding provisions of this subsection. The invention with respect to which a statutory invention certificate is published is not a patented invention for purposes of section 292 of this title. "(d) The Secretary of Commerce shall report to the Congress annually on the use of statutory invention registrations. Such report shall include an assessment of the degree to which agencies of the Federal Government are making use of the statutory invention registration system, the degree to which it aids the management of federally developed technology, and an assessment of the cost savings to the Federal Government of the use of such procedures.". (b) The table of sections at the beginning of chapter 14 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "157. Statutory invention registration.".

Effective date. 35 USC 157 note.

(c) The amendments made by this section shall take effect six months after the date of the enactment of this Act. PRIOR ART

SEC. 103. Section 103 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end thereof the following: "Subject matter developed by another person, which qualifies as prior art only under subsection (f) or (g) of section 102 of this title, shall not preclude patentability under this section where the subject matter and the claimed invention were, at the time the invention was made, owned by the same person or subject to an obligation of assignment to the same person.'. JOINT INVENTORS

SEC. 104. (a) Section 116 of title 35, United States Code, is amended by amending the first paragraph to read as follows: "When an invention is made by two or more persons jointly, they shall apply for patent jointly and each make the required oath, except as otherwise provided in this title. Inventors may apply for a patent jointly even though (1) they did not physically work together or at the same time, (2) each did not make the same type or amount

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