Public Law 119-73 (01/23/2026)

35 U.S.C. § 364

International stage: Procedure

(a)
International applications shall be processed by the Patent and Trademark Office when acting as a Receiving Office, International Searching Authority, or International Preliminary Examining Authority, in accordance with the applicable provisions of the treaty, the Regulations, and this title.
(b)
An applicant’s failure to act within prescribed time limits in connection with requirements pertaining to an international application may be excused as provided in the treaty and the Regulations.

Pub. L. 94–131, § 189 Stat. 686Pub. L. 98–622, title IV, § 403(a)98 Stat. 3392Pub. L. 99–616, § 5100 Stat. 3485Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, § 1000(a)(9) [title IV, § 4732(a)(10)(A)]113 Stat. 1536Pub. L. 107–273, div. C, title III, § 13206(b)(1)(B)116 Stat. 1906Pub. L. 112–211, title II, § 202(b)(8)126 Stat. 1536(Added , , ; amended , , ; , , ; , , , 1501A–582; , , ; , , .)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 112–2112012—Subsec. (b). added subsec. (b) and struck out former subsec. (b) which read as follows: “An applicant’s failure to act within prescribed time limits in connection with requirements pertaining to a pending international application may be excused upon a showing satisfactory to the Director of unavoidable delay, to the extent not precluded by the treaty and the Regulations, and provided the conditions imposed by the treaty and the Regulations regarding the excuse of such failure to act are complied with.”

Pub. L. 107–273Pub. L. 106–1132002—Subsec. (b). made technical correction to directory language of . See 1999 Amendment note below.

Pub. L. 106–113Pub. L. 107–2731999—Subsec. (b). , as amended by , substituted “Director” for “Commissioner”.

Pub. L. 99–6161986—Subsec. (a). substituted a comma for “or” before “International Searching Authority” and “International Preliminary Examining Authority” for “both”.

Pub. L. 98–6221984—Subsec. (a). substituted “Patent and Trademark Office” for “Patent Office”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date of 2012 Amendment

Pub. L. 112–211section 203 of Pub. L. 112–211section 27 of this titleAmendment by effective on the date that is 1 year after , applicable to patents issued before, on, or after that effective date and patent applications pending on or filed after that effective date, and not effective with respect to patents in litigation commenced before that effective date, see , set out as an Effective Date note under .

Effective Date of 1999 Amendment

Pub. L. 106–113Pub. L. 106–113section 1 of this titleAmendment by effective 4 months after , see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, § 4731] of , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 1986 Amendment

Pub. L. 99–616section 9 of Pub. L. 99–616section 351 of this titleAmendment by effective , and applicable to all international applications pending before or after that date, see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date of 1984 Amendment

Pub. L. 98–622section 406(a) of Pub. L. 98–622section 351 of this titleAmendment by effective , see , set out as a note under .

Effective Date

section 11 of Pub. L. 94–131section 351 of this titleSection effective , and applicable to international and national applications filed on and after that date, see , set out as a note under .