Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial ProcedureRelease 119-73
§1928 Patent infringement action; disclaimer not filed
Title 28 › Part PART V— - PROCEDURE › Chapter CHAPTER 123— - FEES AND COSTS › § 1928
Summary
No costs are allowed for winners of partial patent cases if they falsely claimed to be the original inventor of any substantial part, unless they filed a disclaimer with the Patent Office before suing.
Full Legal Text
Title 28, §1928
Judiciary and Judicial Procedure — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Whenever a judgment is rendered for the plaintiff in any patent infringement action involving a part of a patent and it appears that the patentee, in his specifications, claimed to be, but was not, the original and first inventor or discoverer of any material or substantial part of the thing patented, no costs shall be included in such judgment, unless the proper disclaimer has been filed in the United States Patent and Trademark Office prior to the commencement of the action.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on title 28, U.S.C., 1940 ed., § 821 (R.S. § 973). Word “action” was substituted for “any suit at law or in equity” to conform with Rule 2 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Words “or decree” were omitted after “judgment,” because a judgment under Rule 54(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure by definition includes a decree. Changes were made in phraseology.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
1999—Pub. L. 106–113 substituted “United States Patent and Trademark Office” for “Patent Office”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 1999 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 106–113 effective 4 months after Nov. 29, 1999, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, § 4731] of Pub. L. 106–113, set out as a note under section 1 of Title 35, Patents.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
28 U.S.C. § 1928
Title 28 — Judiciary and Judicial Procedure
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73