§261 Ownership; Assignment

Summary

Patents are treated like personal property. The Patent and Trademark Office must keep a record of who has rights in patents and patent applications. It will record related documents if asked and can charge a fee. Patents, applications, and any interest in them can be transferred in writing. An owner or applicant can give exclusive rights for the whole United States or just part of it. A signed and sealed certificate from someone allowed to take oaths in the U.S., a U.S. diplomatic or consular officer abroad, or an accepted apostille counts as proof the transfer was signed. A transfer is not effective against a later buyer or mortgagee who paid value and did not know about it unless the transfer is recorded at the Patent Office within three months of its date or before that later buyer’s or lender’s transaction.