Promulgating Requirements for Admission to Prosecute Patent Applications

Among federal agencies, the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office is unique in its ability to require attorneys to submit to special requirements, such as passing a six hour examination, before being permitted to practice before it in patent cases. Indeed, the Supreme Court has held that an individual so admitted to practice before the PTO need not comply with state requirements otherwise applicable to those practicing law. The first part of this article discusses how this requirement came to be. It then discusses how the PTO determines whether an individual is fit to sit for the patent examination, focusing particularly on provisions contained in a bulletin mailed by its Office of Enrollment and Discipline (OED) to all would-be patent practitioners. It also briefly discusses rule-making requirements (and exceptions) generally applicable to federal agencies and examines the nature of the aforesaid provisions intended to affect admission to prosecute patent applications. This article concludes that the detailed provisions sent to applicants, fitting none of the rule-making exceptions, should be promulgated in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. It also concludes that, in the meantime, those provisions should not be regarded as binding on applicants to practice before the PTO in patent cases. Finally, the article contains an appendix that should be of particular interest to persons involved with software patents

Letter, 1949 March 26, from D. W. Burke Jr. to Carson Robison

1 page, Burke Jr. is an employee of the Radio Distributing Company

Concentration of oxidized lead ores

In the pages of this paper an attempt is made to describe present methods of concentration and flotation of the oxidized ores of lead. The method employed is the presentation of the actual o operation of several mills which have been treating such ores during 1926 and 1927. The plants described are representative operations and form some criteria for the performance of such ores under different conditions. In addition to those concentrators which are described, there are perhaps several small installations which are recovering lead from old mine dumps and tailings piles. It is difficult and almost impossible to obtain any reliable information concerning them. Actual operating figures are presented in this paper only when they are known to be reliable and to represent work over a suitable period of time --Introduction, page 5

On the Cusp of the Maritime Strategy

The extraordinary commitment of naval forces to the Persian Gulf since June 1987 raises a number of issues regarding the doctrine that has emerged since the end of World War II concerning peacetime and wartime employment of naval forces