patent assignment recordation form

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15 U.S.C. 1123 ; 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2) .

57 FR 29642 , July 6, 1992, unless otherwise noted.

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Editorial note on subchapter a of chapter i, editorial note:.

Part 2 is placed in the separate grouping of parts pertaining to trademarks regulations.

PART 3—ASSIGNMENT, RECORDING AND RIGHTS OF ASSIGNEE

Editorial note.

Nomenclature changes to part 3 appear at 68 FR 14337 , Mar. 25, 2003.

§ 3.1 Definitions.

For purposes of this part, the following definitions shall apply:

Application means a national application for patent, an international patent application that designates the United States of America, an international design application that designates the United States of America, or an application to register a trademark under section 1 or 44 of the Trademark Act, 15 U.S.C. 1051 , or 15 U.S.C. 1126 , unless otherwise indicated.

Assignment means a transfer by a party of all or part of its right, title and interest in a patent, patent application, registered mark or a mark for which an application to register has been filed.

Document means a document which a party requests to be recorded in the Office pursuant to § 3.11 and which affects some interest in an application, patent, or registration.

Office means the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Recorded document means a document which has been recorded in the Office pursuant to § 3.11 .

Registration means a trademark registration issued by the Office.

[ 69 FR 29878 , May 26, 2004, as amended at 80 FR 17969 , Apr. 2, 2015]

Documents Eligible for Recording

§ 3.11 documents which will be recorded..

( a ) Assignments of applications, patents, and registrations, and other documents relating to interests in patent applications and patents, accompanied by completed cover sheets as specified in § 3.28 and § 3.31 , will be recorded in the Office. Other documents, accompanied by completed cover sheets as specified in § 3.28 and § 3.31 , affecting title to applications, patents, or registrations, will be recorded as provided in this part or at the discretion of the Director.

( b ) Executive Order 9424 of February 18, 1944 ( 9 FR 1959 , 3 CFR 1943-1948 Comp., p. 303) requires the several departments and other executive agencies of the Government, including Government-owned or Government-controlled corporations, to forward promptly to the Director for recording all licenses, assignments, or other interests of the Government in or under patents or patent applications. Assignments and other documents affecting title to patents or patent applications and documents not affecting title to patents or patent applications required by Executive Order 9424 to be filed will be recorded as provided in this part.

( c ) A joint research agreement or an excerpt of a joint research agreement will also be recorded as provided in this part.

[ 62 FR 53202 , Oct. 10, 1997, as amended at 70 FR 1824 , Jan. 11, 2005; 70 FR 54267 , Sept. 14, 2005; 78 FR 62408 , Oct. 21, 2013]

§ 3.16 Assignability of trademarks prior to filing of an allegation of use.

Before an allegation of use under either 15 U.S.C. 1051(c) or 15 U.S.C. 1051(d) is filed, an applicant may only assign an application to register a mark under 15 U.S.C. 1051(b) to a successor to the applicant's business, or portion of the business to which the mark pertains, if that business is ongoing and existing.

[ 64 FR 48926 , Sept. 8, 1999]

Requirements for Recording

§ 3.21 identification of patents and patent applications..

An assignment relating to a patent must identify the patent by the patent number. An assignment relating to a national patent application must identify the national patent application by the application number (consisting of the series code and the serial number; e.g., 07/123,456). An assignment relating to an international patent application which designates the United States of America must identify the international application by the international application number; e.g., PCT/US2012/012345. An assignment relating to an international design application which designates the United States of America must identify the international design application by the international registration number or by the U.S. application number assigned to the international design application. If an assignment of a patent application filed under § 1.53(b) of this chapter is executed concurrently with, or subsequent to, the execution of the patent application, but before the patent application is filed, it must identify the patent application by the name of each inventor and the title of the invention so that there can be no mistake as to the patent application intended. If an assignment of a provisional application under § 1.53(c) of this chapter is executed before the provisional application is filed, it must identify the provisional application by the name of each inventor and the title of the invention so that there can be no mistake as to the provisional application intended.

[ 80 FR 17969 , Apr. 2, 2015]

§ 3.24 Requirements for documents and cover sheets relating to patents and patent applications.

( a ) For electronic submissions: Either a copy of the original document or an extract of the original document may be submitted for recording. All documents must be submitted as digitized images in Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) or another form as prescribed by the Director. When printed to a paper size of either 21.6 by 27.9 cm (8 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches) or 21.0 by 29.7 cm (DIN size A4), the document must be legible and a 2.5 cm (one-inch) margin must be present on all sides.

( b ) For paper or facsimile submissions: Either a copy of the original document or an extract of the original document must be submitted for recording. Only one side of each page may be used. The paper size must be either 21.6 by 27.9 cm (8 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches) or 21.0 by 29.7 cm (DIN size A4), and in either case, a 2.5 cm (one-inch) margin must be present on all sides. For paper submissions, the paper used should be flexible, strong white, non-shiny, and durable. The Office will not return recorded documents, so original documents must not be submitted for recording.

[ 69 FR 29879 , May 26, 2004]

§ 3.25 Recording requirements for trademark applications and registrations.

( a ) Documents affecting title. To record documents affecting title to a trademark application or registration, a legible cover sheet ( see § 3.31 ) and one of the following must be submitted:

( 1 ) A copy of the original document;

( 2 ) A copy of an extract from the document evidencing the effect on title; or

( 3 ) A statement signed by both the party conveying the interest and the party receiving the interest explaining how the conveyance affects title.

( b ) Name changes. Only a legible cover sheet is required ( See § 3.31 ).

( c ) All documents.

( 1 ) For electronic submissions: All documents must be submitted as digitized images in Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) or another form as prescribed by the Director. When printed to a paper size of either 21.6 by 27.9 cm (8 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches) or 21.0 by 29.7 cm (DIN size A4), a 2.5 cm (one-inch) margin must be present on all sides.

( 2 ) For paper or facsimile submissions: All documents should be submitted on white and non-shiny paper that is either 8 1 ⁄ 2 by 11 inches (21.6 by 27.9 cm) or DIN size A4 (21.0 by 29.7 cm) with a one-inch (2.5 cm) margin on all sides in either case. Only one side of each page may be used. The Office will not return recorded documents, so original documents should not be submitted for recording.

§ 3.26 English language requirement.

The Office will accept and record non-English language documents only if accompanied by an English translation signed by the individual making the translation.

[ 62 FR 53202 , Oct. 10, 1997]

§ 3.27 Mailing address for submitting documents to be recorded.

Documents and cover sheets submitted by mail for recordation should be addressed to Mail Stop Assignment Recordation Services, Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, Virginia 22313-1450, unless they are filed together with new applications.

§ 3.28 Requests for recording.

Each document submitted to the Office for recording must include a single cover sheet (as specified in § 3.31 ) referring either to those patent applications and patents, or to those trademark applications and registrations, against which the document is to be recorded. If a document to be recorded includes interests in, or transactions involving, both patents and trademarks, then separate patent and trademark cover sheets, each accompanied by a copy of the document to be recorded, must be submitted. If a document to be recorded is not accompanied by a completed cover sheet, the document and the incomplete cover sheet will be returned pursuant to § 3.51 for proper completion, in which case the document and a completed cover sheet should be resubmitted.

[ 70 FR 56128 , Sept. 26, 2005]

Cover Sheet Requirements

§ 3.31 cover sheet content..

( a ) Each patent or trademark cover sheet required by § 3.28 must contain:

( 1 ) The name of the party conveying the interest;

( 2 ) The name and address of the party receiving the interest;

( 3 ) A description of the interest conveyed or transaction to be recorded;

( 4 ) Identification of the interests involved:

( i ) For trademark assignments and trademark name changes: Each trademark registration number and each trademark application number, if known, against which the Office is to record the document. If the trademark application number is not known, a copy of the application or a reproduction of the trademark must be submitted, along with an estimate of the date that the Office received the application; or

( ii ) For any other document affecting title to a trademark or patent application, registration or patent: Each trademark or patent application number or each trademark registration number or patent against which the document is to be recorded, or an indication that the document is filed together with a patent application;

( 5 ) The name and address of the party to whom correspondence concerning the request to record the document should be mailed;

( 6 ) The date the document was executed;

( 7 ) The signature of the party submitting the document. For an assignment document or name change filed electronically, the person who signs the cover sheet must either:

( i ) Place a symbol comprised of letters, numbers, and/or punctuation marks between forward slash marks (e.g., /Thomas O'Malley III/) in the signature block on the electronic submission; or

( ii ) Sign the cover sheet using some other form of electronic signature specified by the Director.

( 8 ) For trademark assignments, the entity and citizenship of the party receiving the interest. In addition, if the party receiving the interest is a domestic partnership or domestic joint venture, the cover sheet must set forth the names, legal entities, and national citizenship (or the state or country of organization) of all general partners or active members that compose the partnership or joint venture.

( b ) A cover sheet should not refer to both patents and trademarks, since any information, including information about pending patent applications, submitted with a request for recordation of a document against a trademark application or trademark registration will become public record upon recordation.

( c ) Each patent cover sheet required by § 3.28 seeking to record a governmental interest as provided by § 3.11(b) must:

( 1 ) Indicate that the document relates to a Government interest; and

( 2 ) Indicate, if applicable, that the document to be recorded is not a document affecting title (see § 3.41(b) ).

( d ) Each trademark cover sheet required by § 3.28 seeking to record a document against a trademark application or registration should include, in addition to the serial number or registration number of the trademark, identification of the trademark or a description of the trademark, against which the Office is to record the document.

( e ) Each patent or trademark cover sheet required by § 3.28 should contain the number of applications, patents or registrations identified in the cover sheet and the total fee.

( f ) Each trademark cover sheet should include the citizenship of the party conveying the interest.

( g ) The cover sheet required by § 3.28 seeking to record a joint research agreement or an excerpt of a joint research agreement as provided by § 3.11(c) must:

( 1 ) Identify the document as a “joint research agreement” (in the space provided for the description of the interest conveyed or transaction to be recorded if using an Office-provided form);

( 2 ) Indicate the name of the owner of the application or patent (in the space provided for the name and address of the party receiving the interest if using an Office-provided form);

( 3 ) Indicate the name of each other party to the joint research agreement party (in the space provided for the name of the party conveying the interest if using an Office-provided form); and

( 4 ) Indicate the date the joint research agreement was executed.

( h ) The assignment cover sheet required by § 3.28 for a patent application or patent will be satisfied by the Patent Law Treaty Model International Request for Recordation of Change in Applicant or Owner Form, Patent Law Treaty Model International Request for Recordation of a License/Cancellation of the Recordation of a License Form, Patent Law Treaty Model Certificate of Transfer Form or Patent Law Treaty Model International Request for Recordation of a Security Interest/Cancellation of the Recordation of a Security Interest Form, as applicable, except where the assignment is also an oath or declaration under § 1.63 of this chapter . An assignment cover sheet required by § 3.28 must contain a conspicuous indication of an intent to utilize the assignment as an oath or declaration under § 1.63 of this chapter .

[ 57 FR 29642 , July 6, 1992, as amended at 62 FR 53202 , Oct. 10, 1997; 64 FR 48927 , Sept. 8, 1999; 67 FR 79523 , Dec. 30, 2002; 69 FR 29879 , May 26, 2004; 70 FR 1824 , Jan. 11, 2005; 70 FR 56128 , Sept. 26, 2005; 73 FR 67775 , Nov. 17, 2008; 77 FR 48825 , Aug. 14, 2012; 78 FR 62408 , Oct. 21, 2013]

§ 3.34 Correction of cover sheet errors.

( a ) An error in a cover sheet recorded pursuant to § 3.11 will be corrected only if:

( 1 ) The error is apparent when the cover sheet is compared with the recorded document to which it pertains, and

( 2 ) A corrected cover sheet is filed for recordation.

( b ) The corrected cover sheet must be accompanied by a copy of the document originally submitted for recording and by the recording fee as set forth in § 3.41 .

§ 3.41 Recording fees.

( a ) All requests to record documents must be accompanied by the appropriate fee. Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, a fee is required for each application, patent and registration against which the document is recorded as identified in the cover sheet. The recording fee is set in § 1.21(h) of this chapter for patents and in § 2.6(b)(6) of this chapter for trademarks.

( b ) No fee is required for each patent application and patent against which a document required by Executive Order 9424 is to be filed if:

( 1 ) The document does not affect title and is so identified in the cover sheet (see § 3.31(c)(2) ); and

( 2 ) The document and cover sheet are either: Faxed or electronically submitted as prescribed by the Director, or mailed to the Office in compliance with § 3.27 .

[ 63 FR 52159 , Sept. 30, 1998, as amended at 69 FR 29879 , May 26, 2004]

Date and Effect of Recording

§ 3.51 recording date..

The date of recording of a document is the date the document meeting the requirements for recording set forth in this part is filed in the Office. A document which does not comply with the identification requirements of § 3.21 will not be recorded. Documents not meeting the other requirements for recording, for example, a document submitted without a completed cover sheet or without the required fee, will be returned for correction to the sender where a correspondence address is available. The returned papers, stamped with the original date of receipt by the Office, will be accompanied by a letter which will indicate that if the returned papers are corrected and resubmitted to the Office within the time specified in the letter, the Office will consider the original date of filing of the papers as the date of recording of the document. The procedure set forth in § 1.8 or § 1.10 of this chapter may be used for resubmissions of returned papers to have the benefit of the date of deposit in the United States Postal Service. If the returned papers are not corrected and resubmitted within the specified period, the date of filing of the corrected papers will be considered to be the date of recording of the document. The specified period to resubmit the returned papers will not be extended.

[ 62 FR 53203 , Oct. 10, 1997]

§ 3.54 Effect of recording.

The recording of a document pursuant to § 3.11 is not a determination by the Office of the validity of the document or the effect that document has on the title to an application, a patent, or a registration. When necessary, the Office will determine what effect a document has, including whether a party has the authority to take an action in a matter pending before the Office.

§ 3.56 Conditional assignments.

Assignments which are made conditional on the performance of certain acts or events, such as the payment of money or other condition subsequent, if recorded in the Office, are regarded as absolute assignments for Office purposes until cancelled with the written consent of all parties or by the decree of a court of competent jurisdiction. The Office does not determine whether such conditions have been fulfilled.

§ 3.58 Governmental registers.

( a ) The Office will maintain a Departmental Register to record governmental interests required to be recorded by Executive Order 9424. This Departmental Register will not be open to public inspection but will be available for examination and inspection by duly authorized representatives of the Government. Governmental interests recorded on the Departmental Register will be available for public inspection as provided in § 1.12 .

( b ) The Office will maintain a Secret Register to record governmental interests required to be recorded by Executive Order 9424. Any instrument to be recorded will be placed on this Secret Register at the request of the department or agency submitting the same. No information will be given concerning any instrument in such record or register, and no examination or inspection thereof or of the index thereto will be permitted, except on the written authority of the head of the department or agency which submitted the instrument and requested secrecy, and the approval of such authority by the Director. No instrument or record other than the one specified may be examined, and the examination must take place in the presence of a designated official of the Patent and Trademark Office. When the department or agency which submitted an instrument no longer requires secrecy with respect to that instrument, it must be recorded anew in the Departmental Register.

Domestic Representative

§ 3.61 domestic representative..

If the assignee of a patent, patent application, trademark application or trademark registration is not domiciled in the United States, the assignee may designate a domestic representative in a document filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The designation should state the name and address of a person residing within the United States on whom may be served process or notice of proceedings affecting the application, patent or registration or rights thereunder.

[ 67 FR 79522 , Dec. 30, 2002]

Action Taken by Assignee

§ 3.71 prosecution by assignee..

( a ) Patents—conducting of prosecution. One or more assignees as defined in paragraph (b) of this section may conduct prosecution of a national patent application as the applicant under § 1.46 of this title , or conduct prosecution of a supplemental examination or reexamination proceeding, to the exclusion of the inventor or previous applicant or patent owner. Conflicts between purported assignees are handled in accordance with § 3.73(c)(3) .

( b ) Patents—assignee(s) who can prosecute. The assignee(s) who may conduct either the prosecution of a national application for patent as the applicant under § 1.46 of this title or a supplemental examination or reexamination proceeding are:

( 1 ) A single assignee. An assignee of the entire right, title and interest in the application or patent, or

( 2 ) Partial assignee(s) together or with inventor(s). All partial assignees, or all partial assignees and inventors who have not assigned their right, title and interest in the application or patent, who together own the entire right, title and interest in the application or patent. A partial assignee is any assignee having less than the entire right, title and interest in the application or patent. The word “assignee” as used in this chapter means with respect to patent matters the single assignee of the entire right, title and interest in the application or patent if there is such a single assignee, or all of the partial assignees, or all of the partial assignee and inventors who have not assigned their interest in the application or patent, who together own the entire right, title and interest in the application or patent.

( c ) Patents—Becoming of record. An assignee becomes of record as the applicant in a national patent application under § 1.46 of this title , and in a supplemental examination or reexamination proceeding, by filing a statement in compliance with § 3.73(c) that is signed by a party who is authorized to act on behalf of the assignee.

( d ) Trademarks. The assignee of a trademark application or registration may prosecute a trademark application, submit documents to maintain a trademark registration, or file papers against a third party in reliance on the assignee's trademark application or registration, to the exclusion of the original applicant or previous assignee. The assignee must establish ownership in compliance with § 3.73(b) .

[ 65 FR 54682 , Sept. 8, 2000, as amended at 77 FR 48825 , Aug. 14, 2012]

§ 3.73 Establishing right of assignee to take action.

( a ) The original applicant is presumed to be the owner of an application for an original patent, and any patent that may issue therefrom, unless there is an assignment. The original applicant is presumed to be the owner of a trademark application or registration, unless there is an assignment.

( b ) In order to request or take action in a trademark matter, the assignee must establish its ownership of the trademark property of paragraph (a) of this section to the satisfaction of the Director. The establishment of ownership by the assignee may be combined with the paper that requests or takes the action. Ownership is established by submitting to the Office a signed statement identifying the assignee, accompanied by either:

( 1 ) Documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee ( e.g., copy of an executed assignment). The documents submitted to establish ownership may be required to be recorded pursuant to § 3.11 in the assignment records of the Office as a condition to permitting the assignee to take action in a matter pending before the Office; or

( 2 ) A statement specifying where documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee is recorded in the assignment records of the Office ( e.g., reel and frame number).

( 1 ) In order to request or take action in a patent matter, an assignee who is not the original applicant must establish its ownership of the patent property of paragraph (a) of this section to the satisfaction of the Director. The establishment of ownership by the assignee may be combined with the paper that requests or takes the action. Ownership is established by submitting to the Office a signed statement identifying the assignee, accompanied by either:

( i ) Documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee ( e.g., copy of an executed assignment). The submission of the documentary evidence must be accompanied by a statement affirming that the documentary evidence of the chain of title from the original owner to the assignee was or concurrently is being submitted for recordation pursuant to § 3.11 ; or

( ii ) A statement specifying where documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee is recorded in the assignment records of the Office ( e.g., reel and frame number).

( 2 ) If the submission is by an assignee of less than the entire right, title and interest ( e.g., more than one assignee exists) the Office may refuse to accept the submission as an establishment of ownership unless:

( i ) Each assignee establishes the extent (by percentage) of its ownership interest, so as to account for the entire right, title and interest in the application or patent by all parties including inventors; or

( ii ) Each assignee submits a statement identifying the parties including inventors who together own the entire right, title and interest and stating that all the identified parties own the entire right, title and interest.

( 3 ) If two or more purported assignees file conflicting statements under paragraph (c)(1) of this section, the Director will determine which, if any, purported assignee will be permitted to control prosecution of the application.

( d ) The submission establishing ownership under paragraph (b) or (c) of this section must show that the person signing the submission is a person authorized to act on behalf of the assignee by:

( 1 ) Including a statement that the person signing the submission is authorized to act on behalf of the assignee;

( 2 ) Being signed by a person having apparent authority to sign on behalf of the assignee; or

( 3 ) For patent matters only, being signed by a practitioner of record.

[ 77 FR 48825 , Aug. 14, 2012]

Issuance to Assignee

§ 3.81 issue of patent to assignee..

( a ) With payment of the issue fee: An application may issue in the name of the assignee consistent with the application's assignment where a request for such issuance is submitted with payment of the issue fee, provided the assignment has been previously recorded in the Office. If the assignment has not been previously recorded, the request must state that the document has been filed for recordation as set forth in § 3.11 .

( b ) After payment of the issue fee: Any request for issuance of an application in the name of the assignee submitted after the date of payment of the issue fee, and any request for a patent to be corrected to state the name of the assignee, must state that the assignment was submitted for recordation as set forth in § 3.11 before issuance of the patent, and must include a request for a certificate of correction under § 1.323 of this chapter (accompanied by the fee set forth in § 1.20(a) ) and the processing fee set forth in § 1.17(i) of this chapter .

( c ) Partial assignees.

( 1 ) If one or more assignee, together with one or more inventor, holds the entire right, title, and interest in the application, the patent may issue in the names of the assignee and the inventor.

( 2 ) If multiple assignees hold the entire right, title, and interest to the exclusion of all the inventors, the patent may issue in the names of the multiple assignees.

§ 3.85 Issue of registration to assignee.

The certificate of registration may be issued to the assignee of the applicant, or in a new name of the applicant, provided that the party files a written request in the trademark application by the time the application is being prepared for issuance of the certificate of registration, and the appropriate document is recorded in the Office. If the assignment or name change document has not been recorded in the Office, then the written request must state that the document has been filed for recordation. The address of the assignee must be made of record in the application file.

Part 6 is placed in the separate grouping of parts pertaining to trademarks regulations.

Part 7 is placed in the separate grouping of parts pertaining to trademarks regulations.

Part 1 is placed in the separate grouping of parts pertaining to patents regulations.

Part 3 pertaining to both patents and trademarks is placed in the grouping pertaining to patents regulations.

Part 4 is placed in the separate grouping of parts pertaining to patents regulations.

Part 5 is placed in the separate grouping of parts pertaining to patents regulations.

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Patent Assignment: Everything You Need to Know

A patent assignment is an irrevocable agreement for a patent owner to sell, give away, or transfer interest to an assignee, who can enforce the patent. 6 min read updated on November 05, 2020

Patent Assignment: What Is It?

A patent assignment is a part of how to patent an idea and is an irrevocable agreement for a patent owner to sell, give away, or transfer his or her interest to an assignee, who can benefit from and enforce the patent. The assignee receives the original owner's interest and gains exclusive rights to intellectual property. He or she can sue others for making or selling the invention or design.

There are four types of patent assignments:

Assignment of Rights - Patent Issued: This is for patents that have already been issued.

Assignment of Rights - Patent Application : This is for patents still in the application process. After filing this form, the assignee can be listed as the patent applicant.

Assignment of Intellectual Property Rights - No Patent Issued or Application Filed: This is for unregistered inventions with no patent.

Exclusive Rights

Advantages of a Patent Assignment

Assignees don't create a unique invention or design. They also don't go through the lengthy patent process. They simply assume exclusive rights to intellectual property.

Profit Potential

Many patents cover intellectual property that can earn the owner money. A patent owner can charge a lump sum sale price for a patent assignment. After the transfer, the assignee can start to earn profits from the patent. Both original owners and assignees can benefit from this business arrangement.

Disadvantages of a Patent Assignment

Too Many or Not Enough Inventors

Patents can have multiple owners who invented the product or design. Sometimes patents list too many or not enough inventors. When this happens, owners can argue about an incorrect filing. This kind of dispute can make a patent assignment impossible.

Limited Recourse

Older patents may already have many infringements. Not all patent assignments include the right to sue for past infringements. This is known as the right to causes of action. This can cost the assignee a lot of potential profit.

Examples of What Happens When You File a Patent Assignment vs. When You File a Patent License

When You File a Patent Assignment

The patent owner changes permanently. You file the paperwork with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Information about the new owner is available to the public.

Many owners charge a one-time fee for a patent assignment. The original owner doesn't receive additional payments or profits in the future. The new owner receives future profits.

When You File a Patent License

The patent owner doesn't change permanently. Most licenses have a time limit. At the end of the period, the original owner takes control again. Licensing information isn't always available through an online USPTO search. Contact the recordation office directly to get information about patent licenses.

The licensee can assign rights to another person or company. This adds another layer of ownership over the intellectual property.

Many owners charge royalties for a patent license. The licensee pays royalty fees throughout the license period. If the royalty fees are high and the license period is long, a patent assignment may be a better choice for earning the new owner more money.

Common Mistakes

Not Filing an Assignment Document

A verbal agreement is not official. File a patent assignment to change patent ownership.

Taking Action Before Filing

The assignee shouldn't make or sell the invention before the patent assignment is official. If an error or another problem happens, this could be patent infringement .

Making a Filing Error

Patent assignments are official documents. The assignee's name must be legal and correct. Before filing, check the spelling of the assignee name. If the assignee is a business, confirm the legal name. Many patents have more than one owner. List all names on the assignment.

Misidentifying the Patent

Include as much information about the patent as you can. List the patent number and title. Describe the intellectual property completely.

Not Searching for Security Interests

Patents can be collateral. A bank or another party can file a security interest in a patent, and this can limit how much an assignee can earn from a patent. Check for security interests before filing a patent assignment.

Not Filing a Proprietary Information Agreement

Many businesses file patents, as this is part of a business plan , and it's especially common for startup businesses. Inventorship problems can happen if employees file patents instead of the business.

Often, employees have an obligation to assign inventions to a company. This is true if they developed the invention on the job.

To avoid confusion, require employees to sign a proprietary information agreement. This automatically assigns inventions and designs to the business. Other options include signing an automatic assignment or an explicit assignment. These all clarify patent ownership.

Not Being Notarized

Make sure all official documents concerning your patent are notarized. There is a huge legal advantage to being notarized. It makes it so that your documents will be accepted as correct until it is proven otherwise. If you can't get your documents notarized, gather two witnesses. Have them attest to the signatures.

You have to file a patent assignment within three months of signing the form. If you don't, the assignee could lose ownership rights.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where Do I Record a Patent Assignment?

If you have a U.S. patent, record your patent assignment with the USPTO. If you have a foreign patent, file with the correct national patent offices.

I Can't Get a Signature from the Inventor. What Happens Now?

First, it needs to be officially established that:

• Whoever is pursuing the application has the right to do so.
• The inventor cannot be reached.

In order to establish this, the patent office will need a copy of the following:

• the employee agreement
• the assignment
• other evidence of the rights

After that, the patent office will continue as if the signature has been obtained, even though it hasn't.

If the inventor has died, the patent office will try to contact the person in charge of managing the deceased's estate or the heir. If the invented refuses to sign or is missing, the patent office will ask for a declaration from the person who is trying to contact them. They will also look at the following items that have been sent to the inventor:

• Do I Have to File a Patent Assignment if the Owner's Name Changed?

No, you don't need a patent assignment if only the person's or company's name changed. If the company merged with another, you may need a patent assignment.

What if I Make a Mistake on My Patent Assignment?

You can't correct a patent assignment. You have to assign it back to the original owner. Then you have to reassign with the correct information.

How Much Does a Patent Assignment Cost?

The patent assignment fee is $25. Filing electronically doesn't cost extra. You do have to pay an additional $40 fee if you file on paper.

Should I Hire a Lawyer?

Yes, you should get a lawyer to help with a patent assignment. A lawyer will make sure there are no filing errors. A lawyer knows how to describe the patent correctly. Errors and bad descriptions can limit the power of a patent assignment. This could cost the assignee a lot of money in future profits and legal fees.

Steps to File a Patent Assignment

1. Fill Out a Recordation Form Cover Shee t

The Recordation Form Cover Sheet is an official USPTO document. This includes the names of the assignor(s) and the assignee(s). It also includes the patent title and number.

2. Complete a Patent Assignment Agreement

The patent assignment agreement should list the assignor(s) and the assignee(s). It should state that the assignor has the right to assign the patent. It should also describe the intellectual property clearly and completely. It should also explain any financial or other transactions that have to take place. This includes a description of the lump sum payment.

3. Sign the Patent Assignment Agreement

All patent owners and assignees must sign the patent assignment agreement.

4. Submit the Patent Assignment

Finally, submit the patent assignment with the USPTO. You have to pay the assignment fee at this time.

If you need help with patent assignments, you can post your question or concern on UpCounsel's marketplace . UpCounsel accepts only the top 5 percent of lawyers to its site. Lawyers on UpCounsel come from law schools such as Harvard Law and Yale Law and average 14 years of legal experience, including work with or on behalf of companies like Google, Menlo Ventures, and Airbnb.

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This patent assignment is between  , an individual a(n) (the " Assignor ") and  , an individual a(n) (the " Assignee ").

The Assignor has full right and title to the patents and patent applications listed in Exhibit A (collectively, the " Patents ").

The Assignor wishes to transfer to the Assignee, and the Assignee wishes to purchase and receive from the Assignor, all of its interest in the Patents.

The parties therefore agree as follows:

1. ASSIGNMENT OF PATENTS.

The Assignor assigns to the Assignee, and the Assignee accepts the assignment of, all of the Assignor's interest in the following in the United States and its territories and throughout the world:

• (a) the Patents listed in Exhibit A ;
• (b) the patent claims, all rights to prepare derivative works, goodwill, and other rights to the Patents;
• (c) all registrations, applications (including any divisions, continuations, continuations-in-part, and reissues of those applications), corresponding domestic and foreign applications, letters patents, or similar legal protections issuing on the Patents, and all rights and benefits under any applicable treaty or convention;
• (d) all income, royalties, and damages payable to the Assignor with respect to the Patents, including damages and payments for past or future infringements of the Patents; and
• (e) all rights to sue for past, present, and future infringements of the Patents.

2. CONSIDERATION.

The Assignee shall pay the Assignor a flat fee of as full payment for all rights granted under this agreement. The Assignee shall complete this payment no later than .

3. RECORDATION.

In order to record this assignment with the United States Patent and Trademark Office and foreign patent offices, within hours of the effective date of this assignment, the parties shall sign the form of patent assignment agreement attached as Exhibit B . The Assignor Assignee is solely responsible for filing the assignment and paying any associated fees of the transfer.

4. NO EARLY ASSIGNMENT.

The Assignee shall not assign or otherwise encumber its interest in the Patents or any associated registrations until it has paid to the Assignor the full consideration provided for in this assignment. Any assignment or encumbrance contrary to this provision shall be void.

5. ASSISTANCE.

• (1) sign any additional papers, including any separate assignments of the Patents, necessary to record the assignment in the United States;
• (2) do all other lawful acts reasonable and necessary to record the assignment in the United States; and
• (3) sign all lawful papers necessary for Assignee to retain a patent on the Patents or on any continuing or reissue applications of those Patents.
• (b) Agency. If for any reason the Assignee is unable to obtain the assistance of the Assignor, the Assignor hereby appoints the Assignee as the Assignor's agent to act on behalf of the Assignor to take any of the steps listed in subsection (a).

6. NO LICENSE.

After the effective date of this agreement, the Assignor shall make no further use of the Patents or any patent equivalent, except as authorized by the prior written consent of the Assignee. The Assignor shall not challenge the Assignee's use or ownership, or the validity, of the Patents.

7. ASSIGNOR'S REPRESENTATIONS.

The Assignor hereby represents to the Assignee that it:

• (a) is the sole owner of all interest in the Patents;
• (b) has not transferred, exclusively licensed, or encumbered the Patents or agreed to do so;
• (c) is not aware of any violation or infringement of any third party's rights (or a claim of a violation or infringement) by the Patents;
• (d) is not aware of any third-party consents, assignments, or licenses that are necessary to perform under this assignment;
• (e) was not acting within the scope of employment of any third party when conceiving, creating, or otherwise performing any activity with respect to the Patents.

The Assignor shall immediately notify the Assignee in writing if any facts or circumstances arise that would make any of the representations in this assignment inaccurate. 

8. INDEMNIFICATION.

The Assignor shall indemnify the Assignee against:

• (a) any claim by a third party that the Patents or their creation, use, exploitation, assignment, importation, or sale infringes on any patent or other intellectual property;
• (b) any claim by a third party that this assignment conflicts with, violates, or breaches any contract, assignment, license, sublicense, security interest, encumbrance, or other obligation to which the Assignor is a party or of which it has knowledge;
• (c) any claim relating to any past, present, or future use, licensing, sublicensing, distribution, marketing, disclosure, or commercialization of any of the Patents by the Assignor; and
• (d) any litigation, arbitration, judgments, awards, attorneys' fees, liabilities, settlements, damages, losses, and expenses relating to or arising from (a), (b), or (c) above.
• (i) the Assignee promptly notifies the Assignor of that claim;
• (ii) the Assignor controls the defense and settlement of that claim;
• (iii) the Assignee fully cooperates with the Assignor in connection with its defense and settlement of that claim;
• (iv) the Assignee stops all creation, public use, exploitation, importation, distribution, or sales of or relating to the infringing Patents, if requested by the Assignor.
• (i) obtain the right for the Assignee to continue to use the infringing Patent;
• (ii) modify the infringing Patent to eliminate the infringement;
• (iii) provide a substitute noninfringing patent to the Assignee pursuant to this assignment; or
• (iv) refund to the Assignee the amount paid under this assignment for the infringing Patent.
• (c) No Other Obligations. The Assignor shall have no other obligations or liability if infringement occurs, and shall have no other obligation of indemnification or to defend relating to infringement. The Assignor shall not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred without its prior written authorization and shall have no obligation of indemnification or any liability if the infringement is based on (i) any modified form of the Patents not made by the Assignor, (ii) any finding or ruling after the effective date of this assignment, or (iii) the laws of any country other than the United States of America or its states.

9. GOVERNING LAW.

• (a) Choice of Law. The laws of the state of  govern this agreement (without giving effect to its conflicts of law principles).
• (b) Choice of Forum. Both parties consent to the personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in County, .

10. AMENDMENTS.

No amendment to this assignment will be effective unless it is in writing and signed by a party or its authorized representative.

11. ASSIGNMENT AND DELEGATION.

• (a) No Assignment. Neither party may assign any of its rights under this assignment, except with the prior written consent of the other party. All voluntary assignments of rights are limited by this subsection.
• (b) No Delegation. Neither party may delegate any performance under this assignment, except with the prior written consent of the other party.
• (c) Enforceability of an Assignment or Delegation. If a purported assignment or purported delegation is made in violation of this section, it is void.

12. COUNTERPARTS; ELECTRONIC SIGNATURES.

• (a) Counterparts. The parties may execute this assignment in any number of counterparts, each of which is an original but all of which constitute one and the same instrument.
• (b) Electronic Signatures. This assignment, agreements ancillary to this assignment, and related documents entered into in connection with this assignment are signed when a party's signature is delivered by facsimile, email, or other electronic medium. These signatures must be treated in all respects as having the same force and effect as original signatures.

13. SEVERABILITY.

If any one or more of the provisions contained in this assignment is, for any reason, held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable in any respect, that invalidity, illegality, or unenforceability will not affect any other provisions of this assignment, but this assignment will be construed as if those invalid, illegal, or unenforceable provisions had never been contained in it, unless the deletion of those provisions would result in such a material change so as to cause completion of the transactions contemplated by this assignment to be unreasonable.

14. NOTICES.

• (a) Writing; Permitted Delivery Methods. Each party giving or making any notice, request, demand, or other communication required or permitted by this assignment shall give that notice in writing and use one of the following types of delivery, each of which is a writing for purposes of this assignment: personal delivery, mail (registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return-receipt requested), nationally recognized overnight courier (fees prepaid), facsimile, or email.
• (b) Addresses. A party shall address notices under this section to a party at the following addresses:
• If to the Assignor: 

• If to the Assignee: 
• (c) Effectiveness. A notice is effective only if the party giving notice complies with subsections (a) and (b) and if the recipient receives the notice.

15. WAIVER.

No waiver of a breach, failure of any condition, or any right or remedy contained in or granted by the provisions of this assignment will be effective unless it is in writing and signed by the party waiving the breach, failure, right, or remedy. No waiver of any breach, failure, right, or remedy will be deemed a waiver of any other breach, failure, right, or remedy, whether or not similar, and no waiver will constitute a continuing waiver, unless the writing so specifies.

16. ENTIRE AGREEMENT.

This assignment constitutes the final agreement of the parties. It is the complete and exclusive expression of the parties' agreement about the subject matter of this assignment. All prior and contemporaneous communications, negotiations, and agreements between the parties relating to the subject matter of this assignment are expressly merged into and superseded by this assignment. The provisions of this assignment may not be explained, supplemented, or qualified by evidence of trade usage or a prior course of dealings. Neither party was induced to enter this assignment by, and neither party is relying on, any statement, representation, warranty, or agreement of the other party except those set forth expressly in this assignment. Except as set forth expressly in this assignment, there are no conditions precedent to this assignment's effectiveness.

17. HEADINGS.

The descriptive headings of the sections and subsections of this assignment are for convenience only, and do not affect this assignment's construction or interpretation.

18. EFFECTIVENESS.

This assignment will become effective when all parties have signed it. The date this assignment is signed by the last party to sign it (as indicated by the date associated with that party's signature) will be deemed the date of this assignment.

19. NECESSARY ACTS; FURTHER ASSURANCES.

Each party shall use all reasonable efforts to take, or cause to be taken, all actions necessary or desirable to consummate and make effective the transactions this assignment contemplates or to evidence or carry out the intent and purposes of this assignment.

[SIGNATURE PAGE FOLLOWS]

Each party is signing this agreement on the date stated opposite that party's signature. 

[PAGE BREAK HERE]

EXHIBIT A PATENTS AND APPLICATIONS

FORM OF RECORDABLE PATENT APPLICATION ASSIGNMENT

For good and valuable consideration, the receipt of which is hereby acknowledged, between  , an individual a(n) (the " Assignor ") and  , an individual a(n) (the " Assignee ") all of the Assignor's interest in the Assigned Patents identified in Attachment A to this assignment, and the Assignee accepts this assignment.

Each party is signing this agreement on the date stated opposite that party's signature.

ATTACHMENT A ASSIGNED PATENTS

Free Patent Assignment Template

How-to guides, articles, and any other content appearing on this page are for informational purposes only, do not constitute legal advice, and are no substitute for the advice of an attorney.

Patent assignment: How-to guide

A company’s ability to buy and sell property is essential for its long-term life and vitality. Although it doesn’t take up physical space, too much intellectual property can burden a company, directing limited funds towards maintaining registrations, defending against third-party claims, or creating and marketing a final product.

Selling unused or surplus intellectual property can have an immediate positive effect on a company’s finances, generating revenue and decreasing costs. When it does come time to grow a business, companies looking to purchase property (including patents and other inventions) to support their growth must be sure that the seller does have title to the desired items. A properly drafted patent assignment can help in these circumstances.

A patent assignment is the transfer of an owner’s property rights in a given patent or patents and any patent applications. These transfers may occur independently or as part of larger asset sales or purchases. Patent assignment agreements provide both records of ownership and transfer and protect the rights of all parties.

This agreement is a written acknowledgment of the rights and responsibilities being transferred as part of your sale. This will provide essential documentation of ownership and liability obligations, and you will be well on your way to establishing a clear record of title for all of your patents.

Important points to consider while drafting patent assignments

What is a patent.

A patent is a set of exclusive rights on an invention given by the government to the inventor for a limited period. Essentially, in exchange for the inventor’s agreement to make their invention public and allow others to examine and build on it, the government provides the inventor with a short-term monopoly on their creation. In other words, only they can make, use, or sell that invention.

Are licenses and assignments different from each other?

Licenses are different from assignments. The individual who receives license rights from the patent holder isn’t gaining ownership. Rather, they’re getting assurance from the patent holder that they won’t be sued for making, using, or selling the invention. The terms of the license will vary from agreement to agreement and may address issues of royalties, production, or reversion.

What are the different kinds of patent assignments?

A  patent assignment  can take many forms.

• It can be the transfer of an individual’s entire interest to another individual or company.
• It can also transfer a specific part of that interest (e.g., half interest, quarter interest, etc.) or a transfer valid only in a designated country area. The exact form of the transfer is specific to the parties' agreement.

What is the role of the United States Patent and Trademark Office in patent transfer?

A patent transfer is usually accomplished through a contract, like the following written agreement form. However, after the parties have negotiated and signed their agreement, the transfer must be recorded with the  U.S. Patent and Trademark Office  (USPTO) . The agreement will only be effective if this registration is made. Moreover, if the transfer isn’t recorded within three months from the date of the assignment, there can be no later purchasers. In other words, such patents are no longer sellable to a third party by the assignee if it isn’t recorded quickly and correctly.

Note that there is a fee for  recording each assignment  of a patent or patent application.

What details should I add to my patent application?

Although you can adapt the document to suit your arrangement, you should always identify the patent(s) being assigned by their USPTO number and date and include the name of the inventor and the invention’s title (as stated in the patent itself). This is a requirement of federal law, and failure to follow it could invalidate your assignment.

What are the benefits of patent assignment?

The advantage of selling your invention or patent outright (and not simply licensing or attempting to develop and market it yourself) is that you’re guaranteed payment at the price you and the purchaser have negotiated.

On the other hand, that one-time payment is all that you will ever receive for your property. You will no longer have the right to control anyone else’s use of your creation.

By using it yourself or offering a temporary license, you retain the potential for future income. However, such income isn’t certain, and your opportunities are paralleled by risk.

Before selling all of your rights in a patent or patent application, ensure this is the best (and most lucrative) approach for you and your company.

Is it necessary to do due diligence before buying a patent?

Provide valuable consideration to due diligence, and don’t agree without completing it. If you purchase a patent,  conduct searches  with the patent office on the patents issued and online directories to ensure the seller has complete and unique rights in the offered property. Look for these:

• Has an application already been filed by another person or company?
• What are the chances that this is a patentable item?

Although your findings won’t be guaranteed, you may be protected as an “innocent purchaser” if disputes arise.

You might also find critical information about the value of the patent. Consider hiring a patent attorney to help in your investigation. Comparing patents and applications often requires a specialized and technical understanding to know how useful and unique each one is.

What should I consider while selling a patent?

If you sell an invention or patent, ensure you own it. Although this may seem obvious, intellectual property ownership sometimes must be clarified. This may be the case if, for example, the invention was created as part of your employment or if it was sold or otherwise transferred to somebody else. A thorough search of the USPTO website for the publication number should be conducted before you attempt to sell your property.

Is reviewing and signing the patent necessary?

Review the assignment carefully to ensure all relevant deal points are included. Don't assume certain terms are agreed upon if not stated in the document.

Once the document is ready, sign two copies of the assignment, one for you and one for the other party.

Get the assignment notarized by the notary public to reduce the challenges to the validity of a party’s signature or the transfer itself.

If you’re dealing with a  complex agreement for a patent assignment , contact an attorney to help draft an assignment that meets your needs.

Key components to include in patent assignments

The following provisions will help you understand the terms of your assignment. Please review the entire document before starting your step-by-step process.

Introduction of parties

This section identifies the document as a patent assignment. Add the assignment effective date, parties involved, and what type of organization(s) they are. The “assignor” is the party giving their ownership interest, and the “assignee” is the party receiving it.

The “whereas” clauses, or recitals, define the world of the assignment and offer key background information about the parties. In this agreement, the recitals include a simple statement of the intent to transfer rights in the patent. Remember that the assignor can transfer all or part of its interest in the patents.

Assignment of patents

This section constitutes the assignment and acceptance of patents and inventions. Be as complete and clear as possible in your description of the property being transferred.

Consideration

In most agreements, each party is expected to do something. This obligation may be to perform a service, transfer ownership of property, or pay money. In this case, the assignee gives money (sometimes called “consideration”) to receive the assignor’s property. Enter the amount to be paid, and indicate how long the assignee has to make that payment after the agreement is signed.

Authorization to a director

This section is the assignor’s authorization to issue patents in the assignee’s name. In other words, this tells the head of the patent and trademark office that the transfer is valid and that ownership is changing hands by the assignment.

If the assignment is being recorded after the USPTO has issued a patent number, add the patent application number here.

Assignor’s representations and warranties

In this section, the assignor is agreeing to the following terms:

• They’re the sole owner of the inventions and the patents. If there are other owners who aren’t transferring their interests, this means that the only part being transferred is the assignor’s part.
• They haven’t sold or transferred the inventions and the patents to any third party.
• They have the authority to enter the agreement.
• They don’t believe that the inventions and the patents have been taken from any third party without authorization (e.g., a knowing copy of another company’s invention).
• They don’t know if any permissions must be obtained for the assignment to be completed. In other words, once the agreement is signed, the assignment will be effective without anyone else’s input.
• The patents weren’t created while a third party employed the creator. In many cases, if a company employs an individual and comes up with a product, the company will own that product. This section offers assurance to the assignee that there are no companies that will make that claim about the patents being sold.

If you and the other party want to include additional representations and warranties, you can do so here.

Assignee’s representations and warranties

In this section, the assignee is agreeing to the following terms:

• They have the authority to enter into the agreement
• They have enough funds to pay for the assignment

No early assignment

This section prevents the assignee from re-transferring the inventions or patents or using any of them as collateral for loans until it has completely paid the money due under the agreement.

Documentation

This clause is the assignor’s promise to help with any paperwork needed to complete an assignment, such as filing information about the assignment with the USPTO, transferring document titles, transferring paperwork for filing to foreign countries, etc.

No further use of inventions or patents

This section indicates that after the agreement’s filing date, the assignor will stop using all the inventions and patents being transferred and won’t challenge the assignee’s use of those inventions or patents.

Indemnification

This clause describes each party’s future obligations if the patent or any application is found to infringe on a third party’s rights. Either the assignor agrees to take all responsibility for infringement, promising to pay all expenses and costs relating to the claim, or the assignor makes its responsibilities conditional, significantly limiting its obligations if a claim is brought.

Successors and assigns

This section states that the parties’ rights and obligations will be passed on to successor organizations (if any) or organizations to which rights and obligations have been permissibly assigned.

No implied waiver

This clause explains that even if one party allows the other to ignore or break an obligation under the agreement, it doesn’t mean that the party waives any future rights to require the other to fulfill those (or any other) obligations.

Provide the assignor and assignee’s address where all the official or legal correspondence should be delivered.

Governing law

This provision lets the parties choose the state laws used to interpret the document.

Counterparts; electronic signatures

This section explains that if the parties sign the agreement in different locations, physically or electronically, all the separate pieces will be considered part of the same agreement.

Severability

This clause protects the terms of the agreement as a whole, even if one part is later invalidated. For example, if a state law is passed prohibiting choice-of-law clauses, it won’t undo the entire agreement. Instead, only the section dealing with the choice of law would be invalidated, leaving the remainder of the assignment enforceable.

Entire agreement

This section indicates the parties’ agreement that the document they’re signing is “the agreement” about transferring the issued patent.

This clarifies that the headings at the beginning of each section are meant to organize the document and shouldn’t be considered operational parts of the note. 

Frequently asked questions

What is a patent assignment.

If you want to buy patents, the first step is to ensure the seller (original owner) owns the patent rights. The second step is the transfer of the patent owner's rights to the buyer. Patent assignments are agreements that cover both steps, helping the buyer and the seller with ownership records and quickly enabling transfer.

What are the requirements for patent assignment?

Here's the information you'll require to complete a patent assignment:

• Who the assignor is : Have their name and contact information ready
• Who the assignee is : Have their information available
• Invention info : Know the inventor's name, invention's registration number, and filing date

Related categories

Related templates.

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Copyright Assignment

Protect your intellectual property with a copyright assignment form. Securely transfer your copyright to another party, clearly defining ownership terms while preserving your rights effectively.

Intellectual Property Assignment Agreement

Safeguard the sale or purchase of assets with an intellectual property assignment agreement. Transfer the ownership of patents, trademarks, software, and other critical assets easily.

Patent Application Assignment

Transfer the ownership rights or interests in a patent application. A patent application agreement defines the terms of transfer, promotes collaboration, and mitigates risks.

Trademark Assignment

Simplify the buying and selling of trademarks with a trademark assignment agreement. Transfer intellectual property rights and ensure a fair and smooth transaction.

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Ant-Like Persistence

Best practice for recording US patent assignments

I’ll share my notion of the Best Practice for recordation of US patent assignments.  Please post comments below.

As a starting point to this discussion, I will remind the reader that if we receive a signed assignment and if we sit on it too long, we eventually come out on the wrong side of the 3-month period set forth in 35 USC § 261:

An interest that constitutes an assignment, grant or conveyance shall be void as against any subsequent purchaser or mortgagee for a valuable consideration, without notice, unless it is recorded in the Patent and Trademark Office within three months from its date or prior to the date of such subsequent purchase or mortgage.

So we will take as our starting point that whatever else we do about recording an assignment or postponing the recording of an assignment, we ought to try extremely hard to avoid getting on the wrong side of this three-month period.  (There are similar statutory three-month periods for trademark assignments and copyright assignments.)

Old-timers (or at least, practitioners who were in practice prior to January 1, 2014) will recall the days when it was necessary to pay a government fee to record a patent assignment. In those old days, practitioners would go to great lengths to try to avoid paying two fees if there was a way to squeeze two recordations into a single recordation (so as to pay only one fee).  A practitioner having encountered a problem with an existing recordation filing would go to great lengths to try to salvage the filing so as to avoid having to pony up a second government fee.  If there were two inventors, each of whom was supposed to sign an assignment, and if the signed assignments showed up on different days, most folks would carefully save up the first one and postpone e-filing it until the second signed assignment arrived.  This way, the filer could bunch them together and e-file them all in the same package.

As I say, the overarching goal for most practitioners in those old days was to try as hard as possible to get away with paying only one government fee for multiple assignments.

But the US eliminated the fee on January 1, 2014.  So that is no longer a reason to drag our feet on e-filing a signed assignment if we have it in hand.

A first drawback to intentionally postponing recording a signed assignment is that one might inadvertently permit the three-month period to pass (which I will call a “recordation failure”). By this I mean that to avoid a recordation failure, one needs to aggressively docket the three-month period. The docket steps would be (a) receive the signed assignment from the client; (b) note the date of execution (which might not be the same as the date that we received the signed assignment from the client); (c) add three months to the date of execution to arrive at a drop-dead recordation date, and (d) docket the drop-dead date and one or two warning dates.

If there were a docket failure (failing to set the drop-dead date, or failing to blow whistles loudly enough toward the end of the three-month period) then this would lead to a recordation failure (failing to record the signed assignment within the three-month period set forth in 35 USC § 261).

In our office, we estimate that the internal cost to set and clear a docket is around $50.  So if we can simply do something and get it done, rather than dragging our feet on the task, we don’t need to docket to remember to do whatever it is.  And then we save $50.

So to emphasize the above point, if we record each signed assignment promptly after receiving it, this also avoids having to do the above-mentioned fuss of docketing the three-month period under 35 USC § 261. Once we record the signed assignment, we can stop worrying about setting and clearing dockets to remember to record the signed assignment.

The practitioner who makes a decision to postpone recording an assignment is creating a second risk.  Whenever we sit on a signed assignment without recording it, we create the risk of misplacing the signed assignment . What if the document falls behind a desk?  What if the breeze catches the document and it flies out the window?  What if the file server where we store the PDF document crashes?  What if the file server does not crash, but through some bad luck the PDF document gets stored in the wrong folder?

The USPTO’s assignment recordation system may thus be thought of as an offsite backup for signed assignments. Saying this a different way, the sooner the signed assignment is recorded, the sooner that one may stop worrying about the risk of misplacing it.

A nay-sayer might ask “yes but if I record each inventor’s assignment when it arrives, I will have to fill in the twenty or so fields of the EPAS system twice instead of once!”  The answer to this, of course, is that when we are recording the first assignment, we should save a template.  When the second assignment shows up, we can use the template to auto-populate nearly all of the fields of the EPAS system for that second recordation.

Do you think that what I have described is a Best Practice?  Please post your comment below.

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8 replies to “best practice for recording us patent assignments”.

Fully agree! And file the 373. I docket neither of these, however I do have my own reminder system. Any new file opened automatically asks several questions in red, such as IDS filed? PoA filed? Assignment recorded? 373 filed? When done I turn each green. Because of 261, I treat newly received executed assignments as “drop everything and record this”. It is engrained. Jeff

So what happens if you record it beyond the 3 month execution date? Is it just not enforceable later during any potential litigation? Don’t we record assignments in divisional and cons, when one is recorded already in parent case? Aren’t those going to be more than 3 months from execution date?

The statute quoted in Carl’s post answers the “what if” Missing the three month deadline is almost always no big deal — not recording at all can turn into a HUGE problem! If you miss the three-month deadline for recording, the assignment is

void as against any subsequent purchaser or mortgagee for a valuable consideration, without notice, unless it is recorded in the Patent and Trademark Office within three months from its date or prior to the date of such subsequent purchase or mortgage.

The three-month deadline is just a “relation back” type rule.

I wish Carl would have replied to this, as he was requesting comments.

Is the order of recordation important? If ownership flowed from inventors to Company A then to Company B, could there be a problem (perhaps later in litigation) with recording the assignment from Company A to Company B first then later recording the assignment from the inventors to Company A?

The order of the recordation is, generally speaking, not important.

A person rendering an opinion as to title will not (or, at least, should not) pay much attention to the sequence in which the recordations took place.

The one limited area where a date of recordation might make some difference is that under 35 U.S. Code § 261 a filer who dawdles for too long (a filer who permits more than three months to pass after the date of execution of an assignment) could possibly end up on the wrong end of a document signed by a second second purchaser or mortgagee.

Question: In the following the statement, “for a patent to issue to an assignee, the assignment must have been recorded or filed for recordation in accordance with 37 CFR 3.1.” does “assignee” refer only to assignees who are not the original Applicants, or does it refer to Assignee-Applicants as well?

In other words, if GIZOMOCO was listed on the ADS as the original Applicant and the 373 was submitted at filing along with a copy of the document assigning the rights from the inventor(s)s to GIZMOCO but the assignment to GIZMOCO wasn’t recorded, will the patent issue to the GIZMOCO or to the inventor(s)?

First, there is no need to file a 3.73 if you list GIZOMOCO as the Applicant on the ADS.

Second, as Carl explains above, there is no reason to fail to record the assignment.

To answer your question: the issued patent will list as Assignee whomever is listed in Box 3 of the Issue Fee Transmittal, regardless of who is Applicant. But the Issue Fee Transmittal reminds you of the 37 C.F.R. 3.81 requirement you quote: to list an Assignee on the Issue Fee Transmittal, you must have recorded the chain of assignments from the inventors to that Assignee.

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A license is a grant (assignment) to the licensee of various licensed rights.  The situation can be further obscured by the fact that one can assign the licensed rights from one entity to another.  Thus, the first recordation of a license may be recorded as a “license,” while the assignment of those same licensed rights to another entity may be recorded as an “assignment.”  The only way to really understand the situation is to review the actual documents, which are all readily available from the recordation branch of the patent office.

Note that the patent office sometimes refers to licenses as a species of assignment.  That is correct, because one is assigning license rights.

Not necessarily.  Assignments are only needed if you are contractually obligated, by employment or otherwise, to make the assignment.

An important corollary is that an inventor can merely license his patent rights to a company that is exploiting the invention, and keep title to those rights in his own name.  Investors are usually unhappy with that arrangement, but there can be significant advantages.  One major advantage is that the patent holder is a “necessary and indispensable” to any litigation over patent validity.  Any competitor trying to invalidate the patent must file the action in the district where the inventor resides.

Assignments of provisionals have substantially the same pros and cons as assigning formal utility and design applications.  See the previous FAQ.

Since there are costs attending the handling and recording of assignments, many inventors and companies prefer to hold off on assigning provisional applications until filing of the corresponding formal (utility or PCT) applications.  That is a dangerous strategy.  In the interim between filing the provisional and the formal applications, there are all sorts of unfortunate events that can make later assignments difficult or impossible, including death or disability of an inventor, reluctance of an inventor to file an assignment due to a separation from a company, or divorce.

It is not technically necessary to re-file assignments for divisional or straight continuation applications.  A properly worded prior assignment recorded against the original application is automatically effective because the assignment recorded against the parent application gives the assignee rights to the subject matter common to both applications.

In the case of a substitute or continuation-in-part application, a prior assignment of the original application is not applied to the substitute or continuation-in-part application because the assignment recorded against the original application gives the assignee rights to only the subject matter common to both applications.  Substitute or continuation-in-part applications require the recordation of a new assignment if they are to be issued to an assignee.

Absolutely.  Indeed, it is a very common occurrence that an inventor will assign his invention to a company, and then the company will re-assign the rights after the patent issues.

Assignment is technically free, but it costs about $100 ($40 in filing costs and about $60 in paralegal time) to record the assignment at the U.S. patent office.

Note that the office charges US$ 40 for each patent or patent application listed on the recorda­tion form.  Thus, if an assignment references a family of 5 patent applications, the recorda­tion fee is US$ 200.  Of course paralegal charges would also apply, and possibly attorney time.

Under U.S. law, assignments must be recorded to be effective as against third parties who do not have actual knowledge of the assignment.  The statute is similar to recording statutes used for recording real property.  Thus, although there is no requirement to record an assignment, it is foolish not to do so.

Note that absent some unusual circumstance, patent assignments do not have to be notarized for use within the United States.

Preparing assignments is usually a simple matter of filling in the blanks of a form.  Assignment forms (inventor to company and company to company) and guidelines for preparing such forms can be found in  Strategic Patenting .

Note also that it is important to clearly identify whether the document being recorded is an assignment, license, or other document.  The recording branch does not generally read the documents to verify the content.

The Patent office will proceed as if the signature had been procured from the inventor, but only after establishing that the entity pursuing the application has colorable rights, and only after establishing that the inventor cannot be reached.  Thus, the patent office will need a copy of the employee agreement, assignment, or other documentary evidence establishing those rights.

In the case of a deceased inventor, the patent office will insist upon a statement from the executor of the estate, or an heir if probate is finished.  Where the inventor refuses to sign, or cannot be found, the patent office will insist upon seeing the letters, emails and faxes sent to the inventor, and will need a declaration from the person trying to make contact.

One simply records a certificate of name change or other formal document with the USPTO, using the assignment recordation form.

In foreign countries, name changes can be a real problem, and can cost anywhere from several hundred to a thousand dollars (mostly in attorneys fees).

It depends on the wording of the assignment and the recordation laws of the foreign countries.  Most assignments transfer all rights, title, and interest to U.S. patents and applications, and to corresponding foreign patents and applications.  Even so, the assignments might not be legally effective in a given country until the assignment is recorded in that country.

Some countries insist on a specific assignment that expressly lists that country. Canada, for example, typically requires its own assignments.

Patent infringement damages accrue in some countries only from the date the assignment was actually recorded at the relevant patent office.  Thus, delay in registering can cost a patent holder dearly in reduced patent infringement damages.

The main disadvantage to recording assignments is that many countries (including most or all of Europe) consider assignment of a patent or application to be a taxable transfer, and charge VAT (Value Added Tax) on the estimated value of the application or patent.  Since the value is often low in the early days, and can rise considerably during the life of the patent, the disadvantage of recordation can be mitigated by registering early.

Assignments records at the USPTO are available for  public inspection , but only for patents and published applications.  One can search by reel/frame number, patent or publication number, and assignor or assignee name.

The underlying documents are not available for download, but can be ordered from the assignment branch.  Paper mail requests can take months, but faxed requests are usually filled within a day or two.

No.  One should never rely upon the designation of “assignee” as set forth on the face of a patent.  First, the patent office obtains the “assignment” information directly from the issue fee transmittal form, and there is no verification whatsoever that such information is, or even ever was, correct.  The entry could well have been an error on the part of an attorney, paralegal, or secretary, and the issue fee transmittal form even warns that designation of an assignee of that form does not, in and of itself, affect an assignment.  Second, the patent is never altered after it is published.  Information that was correct at one point in time may well be superseded down the road.  Third, even if the “assignee” information is correct, one cannot know from the face of the patent what rights were assigned.  It might well be that only licensed rights were assigned, or that such rights are subject to a reversion.

Yes. But there can be real problems with multiple owners of a patent. Unless there is some other agreement restricting what an entity can do with its ownership interest, a co-owner of any portion of a patent, (whether 99% or 1% or .0001%), can make use of the patent however they want.  For example, a .0001% owner of a patent could license out its rights, and keep 100% of the license fee.  Absent an agreement to the contrary, there is no duty of a co-owner of the patent to share license fees with any of the other co-owners.

One of the big problems with two entities owning portions of a given patent is that the two entities can compete with each other with respect to license fees. For example, if co-owner A offers to license the patent rights for 7%, co-owner B might choose to undercut the previous offer by offering to license the same rights for 5%.  But then co-owner A comes back and offers to license the rights for 2%. Pretty soon the value of the license rights goes to zero.  Also, if co-owner A gets upset with co-owner B, co-owner A could unilaterally abandon the patent, which would make it worthless to everyone.

Even if co-owners agree to share license fees 50-50, there can be problems.  For example, co-owner A could decide to license out its patent rights for one dollar a year to a licensee that co-owner A owns, has an interest in, or perhaps has a relative with an interest in.  Of course co-owner A would be happy to share $0.50 of its annual license fee with co-owner B, but co-owner B would be pretty upset.

Still further, if there is a chain of patents, for example with a parent and a child patent in the same family, the ownership of both patents has to remain to the same at all times.  If, for example, both a parent patent and a child patent are 100% owned by A, assignment of some or all of the child patent to B will immediately invalidate the child patent.  Even if such an assignment is made, and the parties realize the mistake, reassigning the child patent back A would not cure the mistake. The child patent would remain abandoned.

Bottom line, co-ownership of a patent is really problematic.

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Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for Review and Approval; Comment Request; Recording Assignments

A Notice by the Patent and Trademark Office on 09/03/2024

This document has been published in the Federal Register . Use the PDF linked in the document sidebar for the official electronic format.

• Document Details Published Content - Document Details Agencies Department of Commerce Patent and Trademark Office Document Citation 89 FR 71259 Document Number 2024-19669 Document Type Notice Pages 71259-71260 (2 pages) Publication Date 09/03/2024 Published Content - Document Details
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Department of Commerce

Patent and trademark office.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) will submit the following information collection request to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance in accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, on or after the date of publication of this notice. The USPTO invites comments on this information collection renewal, which helps the USPTO assess the impact of its information collection requirements and minimize the public's reporting burden. Public comments were previously requested via the Federal Register on June 17, 2024 during a 60-day comment period ( 89 FR 51313 ). This notice allows for an additional 30 days for public comment.

Agency: United States Patent and Trademark Office, Department of Commerce.

Title: Recording Assignments.

OMB Control Number: 0651-0027.

Needs and Uses: This collection of information is required by 35 U.S.C. 261 and 262 for patents and 15 U.S.C. 1057 and 1060 for trademarks. These statutes authorize the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to record patent and trademark assignment documents, including transfers of ( print page 71260) properties ( i.e. patents and trademarks), liens, licenses, assignments of interest, security interests, mergers, and explanations of transactions or other documents that record the transfer of ownership of a particular patent or trademark property from one party to another. Assignments are recorded for applications, patents, and trademark registrations.

The USPTO administers these statutes through 37 CFR 2.146 , 2.171 , and 37 CFR part 3 . These regulations permit the public, corporations, other federal agencies, and government-owned or government-controlled corporations to submit patent and trademark assignment documents and other documents related to title transfers to the USPTO to be recorded. In accordance with 37 CFR 3.54 , the recording of an assignment document by the USPTO is an administrative action and not a determination of the validity of the document or of the effect that the document has on the title to an application, patent, or trademark.

Once the assignment documents are recorded, they are available for public inspection. The only exceptions are those documents that are sealed under secrecy orders according to 37 CFR 3.58 , or related to unpublished patent applications maintained in confidence under 35 U.S.C. 122 and 37 CFR 1.14 . The public uses these records to conduct ownership and chain-of-title searches. The public may view these records either at the USPTO Public Search Facility or at the National Archives and Records Administration, depending on the date they were recorded. The public may also search patent and trademark assignment information online through the USPTO website.

This information collection covers the recordation of patent and trademark assignments. In order to record an assignment, the respondent must submit an assignment document along with the appropriate cover sheet. The USPTO provides two forms for this purpose, the Recordation Form Cover Sheet—Trademarks Only (PTO-1594), and the Recordation Form Cover Sheet—Patents Only (PTO-1595), which capture all of the necessary data for accurately recording various assignments. Customers may submit assignments electronically by using Assignment Center, which is available on the USPTO website. [ 1 ] This system allows customers to fill out the required cover sheet information online using web-based forms and then attach the assignment documents to be submitted for recordation. The USPTO also provides paper forms that may be used to record an assignment. These forms may be downloaded in PDF format from the USPTO website. [ 2 ]

For this 30-day notice, the non-hourly cost burdens have been adjusted, for an overall increase of $27, due to an increase in the postage rate since the 60-day notice was published. Additionally, in response to public comments, the USPTO has added an additional 10 minutes to this information collection burden estimate.

Forms: (AIA= America Invents Act; SB = Specimen Book)

• PTO-1594 (Recordation Form Cover Sheet—Trademarks Only)
• PTO-1595 (Recordation Form Cover Sheet—Patents Only)

Type of Review: Extension and revision of a currently approved information collection.

Affected Public: Private sector.

Respondent's Obligation: Required to obtain or retain benefits.

Frequency: On occasion.

Estimated Number of Annual Respondents: 724,442 respondents.

Estimated Number of Annual Responses: 724,442 responses.

Estimated Time per Response: The USPTO estimates that the responses in this information collection will take the public approximately 40 minutes (0.67 hours) to complete. This includes the time to gather the necessary information, create the document, and submit the completed request to the USPTO.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Burden Hours: 485,376 hours.

Estimated Total Annual Respondent Non-hourly Cost Burden: $9,148,330.

This information collection request may be viewed at www.reginfo.gov . Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce, USPTO information collections currently under review by OMB.

Written comments and recommendations for this information collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of this notice on the following website, www.reginfo.gov/​public/​do/​PRAMain . Find this particular information collection by selecting “Currently under 30-day Review-Open for Public Comments” or by using the search function and entering either the title of the information collection or the OMB Control Number, 0651-0027.

Further information can be obtained by:

• Email: [email protected] . Include “0651-0027 information request” in the subject line of the message.
• Mail: Justin Isaac, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office, P.O. Box 1450, Alexandria, VA 22313-1450.

Justin Isaac,

Information Collections Officer, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, United States Patent and Trademark Office.

1.   https://assignmentcenter.uspto.gov .

2.   https://www.uspto.gov/​sites/​default/​files/​pto1594.pdf and https://www.uspto.gov/​forms/​pto1595.pdf , respectively.

[ FR Doc. 2024-19669 Filed 8-30-24; 8:45 am]

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Trademark assignments: Transferring ownership or changing your name

Assignment Center

Trademark owners may need to transfer ownership or change the name on their application or registration. This could happen while your trademark application is pending or after your trademark has registered. Use Assignment Center to transfer ownership or to request a change in name. See our how-to guide for trademarks on using Assignment Center.

Here are examples of common reasons:

• I’ve sold my business and need to transfer ownership of the trademark. This is a transfer of ownership called an assignment.
• I got married just after I filed my application and my last name changed.  This is a name change of the owner. 

There are fees associated with recording assignments, name changes, and other ownership-type changes with the USPTO. See the Trademark Services Fee Code “8521” on the current fee schedule to find the specific fee amount.

See the correcting the owner name page to learn if you can correct an error in the owner's name that does not require an assignment.

Limitations based on filing basis

Intent-to-use section 1(b) applications.

If you’re transferring ownership to a business successor for the goods or services listed in your identification, you can file your assignment at any time. In all other cases, you must wait until after you file an  Amendment to Allege Use or a Statement of Use before you file your assignment. For more information, see the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure (TMEP)  section 501.01(a) . 

Madrid Protocol section 66(a) U.S. applications and registrations

All ownership changes involving international registrations must be filed with the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). Follow the guidance on the WIPO website about changing ownership or changing an owner’s or holder’s name. See the  TMEP section 502.02(b) for more information.

How to update ownership information

Submit a request to transfer ownership or change the name.

Use Assignment Center to submit your request to transfer ownership or change the owner name for your U.S. application or registration. You will need to fill out a cover sheet with certain information and may also need to upload supporting documents, depending on the type of change. Also, be prepared to pay the Trademark Services Fee Code “8521” on the current fee schedule .

You'll receive a notice of recordation or non-recordation

In about seven days, look for your notice. If you don’t receive one, contact the Assignment Recordation Branch . The Notice of Non-Recordation will explain the reason your request to record was denied. Here are four common reasons: 

• A critical piece of information was omitted from the cover sheet. 
• The document is illegible or not scannable. 
• The information on the cover sheet and the supporting document do not match. 
• The assignment was not transferred with the good will of the business. 

USPTO trademark database will be automatically updated after recordation

Once recorded, the trademark database should reflect the new owner information or name change. Check the Trademark Status and Document Retrieval (TSDR) system to see if the owner information has been updated. See below for information about what to do if the database isn’t updated.

What to do if the USPTO trademark database isn’t updated

In some cases, the USPTO will not automatically update the trademark database to show the change in ownership or name. This could happen when the execution date conflicts with a previously recorded document or multiple assignments have the same execution date on the same date. For more information, see TMEP section 504.01 . 

If the trademark database wasn’t updated and your trademark has not published in the Trademark Official Gazette yet, and you need to respond to an outstanding USPTO letter or office action, use the appropriate Response form to request the update of the owner information. If you don’t have a response due, use the Voluntary Amendment form . To do this,

• Answer “yes” to the question at the beginning of the form that asks if you need to change the owner’s name or entity information.
• Enter the new name in the “Owner” field in the “Owner Information” section of the form.

Your request to update the owner information will be reviewed by a USPTO employee and entered, if appropriate. To request the owner information be updated manually when your trademark has already published or registered, use the appropriate form listed in the “Checking the USPTO trademark database for assignment/name change” section below.

If you made an error in your Assignment Center cover sheet 

Immediately call the Assignment Recordation Branch to request possible suspension of the recordation. The recordation may be suspended for two days. You’ll be instructed to email the specialist you speak with requesting the cancellation and that a refund be issued. However, if the assignment has already been recorded, your request will be denied. You must then follow the procedures outlined in the TMEP section 503.06 to make any corrections to the assignment.

We strongly recommend filing these changes online using Assignment Center , which will record your changes in less than a week. It is possible to request these changes by paper using the Recordation Form Cover Sheet and mailing the cover sheet, any supporting documentation, and fee to: 

Mail Stop Assignment Recordation Branch Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office PO Box 1450 Alexandria, VA 22313-1450

If you file by paper, we will record your changes within 20 days of filing. 

Checking the USPTO trademark database for assignment /name change

After you receive a Notice of Recordation, wait one week before checking to see if the owner information has been updated in your application or registration in the trademark database. Follow these instructions:

• Go to TSDR .
• Enter the application serial number or registration number.
• Select the “Status” button.
• Scroll down to the “Current Owner(s) Information” section. 
• Check to see that your owner information was updated correctly.

If the owner information hasn’t yet been updated, go to the “Prosecution History” section in TSDR to see the status of the assignment or name change. It can take up to seven days to see an entry in the Prosecution History regarding the assignment. If an entry shows "Ownership records not automatically updated," you will need to submit a TEAS form making the owner or name change manually.

The form you need depends on where your application is in the process.

• If your trademark has not published in the Trademark Official Gazette yet, use the TEAS Response to Examining Attorney Office Action form or the TEAS Voluntary Amendment form . If you are responding to an outstanding USPTO Office action regarding your application or registration, use the TEAS response form.
• If your trademark has published but hasn't registered, use the TEAS Post-Publication Amendment form . 
• If your trademark is registered , use the TEAS Section 7 Request form . A fee is required.

Updating your correspondence information

If your ownership information is automatically updated in TSDR , you must ensure your correspondence information, including any attorney information, is also updated. To update your correspondence or attorney information, use the TEAS Change of Address or Representation (CAR) form . This form cannot be used to change the owner name.

For further information, see TMEP Chapter 500 and look at the frequently asked questions .

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