呆子的專利部落格

當透過代理人申請美國專利的時候，發明人/申請人需要簽署一份授權書，授權代理人在 USPTO (美國專利商標局)代理進行申請的業務。

如果發明人即是申請人的時候，發明人自然無須證明自己是專利申請案的所有權人。但如果申請人不是發明人的時候，申請人必須在每次指示代理人進行業務的同時，附上一份聲明書，聲明自己是專利申請案的所有權人。

有些時候，事務所會將聲明書結合於授權書當中，所以申請人只需要簽署一份文件，即可同時具有兩者的效力。有些時候，則會分成兩份文件，申請人兩份都需要簽署。但無論是合成一份或分開成兩份，聲明書都是必要的。所以，如果有發現，申請人並非發明人本人的時候，卻沒有一份符合 37 CFR 3.73(b) 規範的聲明書，則可能會導致授權書的效力產生問題，不可不注意。

此規範並非侷限於授權書的簽署，而是請求 USPTO 執行任何有關此專利申請案的動作時，申請人均必須提供此一聲明。

根據 37 CFR 3.73(b) 的規定，為了證明申請人確實擁有專利申請案的所有權，申請人在請求 USPTO 執行任何動作的同時，可以有以下兩種方式：

1) 附上可以證明所有權的文件 (例如：讓渡書) 的影本，並同時附上一份聲明書，聲明這些證明文件已經或與正在被交付到 USPTO 進行登記；或

2) 一份聲明書，聲明這些證明文件已登記於 USPTO (附上登記號碼)。

另外，37 CFR 3.73(b) 亦有提及聲明書可以與請求動作的文件合併，所以聲明書才可以合併成為授權書的一部分。

37 CFR 3.73 (b) (順著藍字讀比較簡單明瞭)

(1) In order to request or take action in a patent or trademark matter, the assignee must establish its ownership of the patent or 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:

(i) Documentary evidence of a chain of title from the original owner to the assignee (e.g., copy of an executed assignment)....... For patent matters only, 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)The submission establishing ownership must show that the person signing the submission is a person authorized to act on behalf of the assignee by:

(i) Including a statement that the person signing the submission is authorized to act on behalf of the assignee; or
(ii) Being signed by a person having apparent authority to sign on behalf of the assignee, e.g., an officer of the assignee.

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