Title 35 — PatentsRelease 119-73
§368 Secrecy of certain inventions; filing international applications in foreign countries
Title 35 › Part PART IV— - PATENT COOPERATION TREATY › Chapter CHAPTER 36— - INTERNATIONAL STAGE › § 368
Summary
International applications filed at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office follow chapter 17. Filings made abroad for inventions that originated in the U.S. count as foreign filings under that chapter, whether or not the U.S. is named. If permission to file abroad is refused or an application is ordered secret and no permit is given, the PTO, when acting in its international roles, may not disclose the application’s contents to people who are not authorized.
Full Legal Text
Title 35, §368
Patents — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
(a)International applications filed in the Patent and Trademark Office shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 17.
(b)In accordance with article 27(8) of the treaty, the filing of an international application in a country other than the United States on the invention made in this country shall be considered to constitute the filing of an application in a foreign country within the meaning of chapter 17, whether or not the United States is designated in that international application.
(c)If a license to file in a foreign country is refused or if an international application is ordered to be kept secret and a permit refused, the Patent and Trademark Office when acting as a Receiving Office, International Searching Authority, or International Preliminary Examining Authority, may not disclose the contents of such application to anyone not authorized to receive such disclosure.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2011—Subsecs. (a), (b). Pub. L. 112–29 struck out “of this title” after “17”. 1986—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 99–616 substituted a comma for “or” after “Receiving Office” and “International Preliminary Examining Authority” for “both”. 1984—Subsecs. (a), (c). Pub. L. 98–622 substituted “Patent and Trademark Office” for “Patent Office”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
of 2011 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 112–29 effective upon the expiration of the 1-year period beginning on Sept. 16, 2011, and applicable to proceedings commenced on or after that
Effective Date
, see section 20(l) of Pub. L. 112–29, set out as a note under section 2 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1986 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 99–616 effective July 1, 1987, and applicable to all international applications pending before or after that date, see section 9 of Pub. L. 99–616, set out as a note under section 351 of this title.
Effective Date
of 1984 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 98–622 effective Nov. 8, 1984, see section 406(a) of Pub. L. 98–622, set out as a note under section 351 of this title.
Effective Date
Section effective Jan. 24, 1978, and applicable to international and national applications filed on and after that date, see section 11 of Pub. L. 94–131, set out as a note under section 351 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
35 U.S.C. § 368
Title 35 — Patents
Last Updated
Apr 6, 2026
Release point: 119-73