不請律師-自己申請專利(31): 進一步封鎖3T係統

前文談過，由國會製定的專利法第十七章要求某些發明要保密，也以許可證的形式限製了向國外申請專利。單看十七章，會容易讓人看到一些空子可鑽。比如你繞過美國專利局，直接到外國為你的3T係統申請專利，或者你用你的新型二踢腳和普通三踢腳拿到美國的許可證，然後，在與外國專利局的審查交流中，把3T係統的內容以任何形式告訴了外國專利局。針對此，聯邦政府製定了一些規則，把這些空子都給封死了。就老愛的感覺而言，凡是流向外國專利局和PCT國際專利局的信息(包括途徑的代理機構)，美國專利局都會，主動或被動地，會同其它政府機構搞保密審查。流向外國的其它地方(即非專利局和非PCT國際專利局)的信息，美國會怎麽搞保密審查，老愛沒有研究，故不予評論。

37 CFR PART 5 — SECRECY OF CERTAIN INVENTIONS AND LICENSES TO EXPORT AND FILE APPLICATIONS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES

§ 5.1 Applications and correspondence involving national security.

…(f) Applications on inventions made outside the United States and on inventions in which a U.S. Government defense agency has a property interest will not be made available to defense agencies.

§ 5.2 Secrecy order. § 5.3 Prosecution of application under secrecy orders; withholding patent. § 5.4 Petition for rescission of secrecy order. § 5.5 Permit to disclose or modification of secrecy order.

§ 5.11 License for filing in a foreign country an application on an invention made in the United States or for transmitting international application.

(a) A license from the Commissioner for Patents under 35 U.S.C. 184 is required before filing any application for patent including any modifications, amendments, or supplements thereto or divisions thereof or for the registration of a utility model, industrial design, or model, in a foreign patent office or any foreign patent agency or any international agency other than the United States Receiving Office, if the invention was made in the United States and:

(1) An application on the invention has been filed in the United States less than six months prior to the date on which the application is to be filed, or

(2) No application on the invention has been filed in the United States.

§ 5.12 Petition for license.

(a) Filing of an application for patent for inventions made in the United States will be considered to include a petition for license under 35 U.S.C. 184 for the subject matter of the application. The filing receipt will indicate if a license is granted. If the initial automatic petition is not granted, a subsequent petition may be filed under paragraph (b) of this section.

(b) A petition for license must include the fee set forth in § 1.17(g) of this chapter, the petitioner's address, and full instructions for delivery of the requested license when it is to be delivered to other than the petitioner. The petition should be presented in letter form.

§ 5.13 Petition for license; no corresponding application.

If no corresponding national or international application has been filed in the United States, the petition for license under § 5.12(b) must also be accompanied by a legible copy of the material upon which a license is desired. This copy will be retained as a measure of the license granted.

§ 5.14 Petition for license; corresponding U.S. application.

§ 5.15 Scope of license.

… (e) Any paper filed abroad or transmitted to an international patent agency following the filing of a foreign or international application which changes the general nature of the subject matter disclosed at the time of filing in a manner which would require such application to have been made available for inspection under 35 U.S.C. 181 or which involves the disclosure of subject matter listed in paragraphs (a)(3)(i) or (ii) of this section must be separately licensed in the same manner as a foreign or international application. Further, if no license has been granted under § 5.12(a) on filing the corresponding United States application, any paper filed abroad or with an international patent agency which involves the disclosure of additional subject matter must be licensed in the same manner as a foreign or international application.