Title 35 — PatentsRelease 119-73not60
§185 Patent Barred for Filing Without License
Title 35 › Part II— PATENTABILITY OF INVENTIONS AND GRANT OF PATENTS › Chapter 17— SECRECY OF CERTAIN INVENTIONS AND FILING APPLICATIONS IN FOREIGN COUNTRY › § 185
Summary
You cannot get a U.S. patent if you (or your heirs, successors, or assigns) apply abroad for a patent or register a utility model, industrial design, or similar protection without first getting the required license. Any U.S. patent given then is void unless the missed license was an honest error and the patent does not disclose subject matter covered elsewhere in the law.
Full Legal Text
Title 35, §185
Patents — Source: USLM XML via OLRC
Notwithstanding any other provisions of law any person, and his successors, assigns, or legal representatives, shall not receive a United States patent for an invention if that person, or his successors, assigns, or legal representatives shall, without procuring the license prescribed in section 184, have made, or consented to or assisted another’s making, application in a foreign country for a patent or for the registration of a utility model, industrial design, or model in respect of the invention. A United States patent issued to such person, his successors, assigns, or legal representatives shall be invalid, unless the failure to procure such license was through error, and the patent does not disclose subject matter within the scope of section 181.
Legislative History
Notes & Related Subsidiaries
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on Title 35, U.S.C., 1946 ed., § 155 (Feb. 1, 1952, ch. 4, § 5, 66 Stat. 5). Language is changed.
Editorial Notes
Amendments
2011—Pub. L. 112–29 struck out “of this title” after “184” and after “181” and struck out “and without deceptive intent” after “error”. 2002—Pub. L. 107–273 struck out second period at end. 1988—Pub. L. 100–418 inserted before period at end “, unless the failure to procure such license was through error and without deceptive intent, and the patent does not disclose subject matter within the scope of section 181 of this title.”
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 1988 AmendmentAmendment by Pub. L. 100–418 applicable, subject to certain qualifications and exceptions, to all United States patents, and to all licenses under section 184 of this title, regardless of the date such patents or licenses are granted, and to all applications for such patents pending on or filed after Aug. 23, 1988, see section 9101(d) of Pub. L. 100–418, set out as a note under section 184 of this title.
Reference
Citations & Metadata
Citation
35 U.S.C. § 185
Title 35 — Patents
Last Updated
Apr 5, 2026
Release point: 119-73not60