美国外观专利也会爆雷？？

于2023年1月20日美国商标专利局发出一份训诫令通知，以下附通知的全中英文内容，大家可以仔细阅读。

主要的意思就是：

美国商标专利局抽查了一位美国代理律师（名下的大部份专利都来自中国申请），通知里指出递交的外观案子太多 两年差不多交了4000件 其中以微实体申请是171件，所以被注意到从而被调查。

其中171件微实体外观专利要求重新按要求交微实体资格证明材料，该代理递交了132份资料 有39份仍是不符合或者没交上 要求马上补差额，否则无效，并且该律师已被标识警告，那么是否会影响名下所有专利，目前不得而知。

首先我们来认识一下申请美国外观专利的几个主体资格要求，分三种，从价格来说，微实体申请价格较优惠，小实体，大实体都是以几百美刀的递增价格，正是这样，目前有部分国内商标专利代理中介仍推广微实体申请，并且不少企业或者个人申请时都希望走微实体。

美国专利大实体、小实体和微实体的区别主要体现在两方面：

一、企业规模的大小；

二、官费减免：微实体减免75%、小实体减免50%、大实体无减免。

总结：

大实体定义：企业员工数超过500人。

小实体定义：企业员工数不超过500人或不符合微实体定义。

微实体定义（需同时符合以下四个条件）：

（1）有作为一个小实体的资格，即专利权人企业人员规模少于 500 人；

（2）之前不得以申请人、发明人或联合发明人身份提交超过 4 个美国非临时专利申请；

（3）在递交专利申请前一年的总收入不得超过 3 倍的中等家庭收入；

（4）不得将专利申请转让给在递交专利申请前一年的总收入超过 3 倍中等家庭收入的实体。

*当前 3 倍的中等家庭收入是 202,563 美元。

上面微实体的3、4点要求，现在已被美国商标专利局认为，中国企业或者个人目前是很少会有这种情况，并且从商标专利局方面来看律师代理量过大，微实体比例多是不合代理规定的，并且专利局做一样的工作 收费减少，长期这样是不会接受。

现在商标专利局这份文件，是足够要引起所有中国知识产权代理以及所有企业重视，以一个美国外观为例 ，取得授权后，保护时间有15年时间，这期间内，专利产品已在市场上大力销售！你是否会担心专利突然一天无效了？商标爆雷的前车之鉴，不可掉以轻心！建议一定要找合规的代理机构严格按照专利局的要求去提交申请！！！

以下附训诫令通知的全中英文内容：

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

BEFORE THE DIRECTOR OF THE

UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE

美国专利商标局

面对美国专利商标局局长

In the Matter of 

Raymond Chew,                              Proceeding No. D2023-08

Respondent

FINAL ORDER PURSUANT TO 37 C.F.R.§11.26

根据 37 C.F.R.§11.26 的最终命令

The Director of the Office of Enrollment and Discipline(“OED Director”) for the United States Patent and Trademark Office(“USPTO”or“Office”)and Raymond Chew(“Respondent”) have submitted a Proposed Settlement Agreement("Agreement"”) to the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual  Property  and  Director  of the  United  States  Patent  and  Trademark  Office("USPTO Director') for approval. 

美国专利商标局（“USPTO”或“办公室”）注册和纪律办公室主任（“OED 主任”）和 Raymond Chew（“被调查人”）提交了拟议的调解协议（“协议” ) 给商务部知识产权副部长兼美国专利商标局局长（“USPTO 局长”）批准。

The Agreement, which resolves all disciplinary action by the USPTO arising from the stipulated facts set forth below, is hereby approved. This Final Order sets forth the parties' Joint Stipulated Facts, Joint Legal Conclusions, and Agreed-Upon Sanction found in the Agreement.

该协议解决了美国专利商标局因以下规定的事实而引起的所有纪律处分，特此批准。 本最终命令阐述了协议中双方共同规定的事实、共同法律结论和协商一致的制裁。

Jurisdiction

管辖权

1. At all times relevant hereto, Respondent of Murrieta, California, was a registered patent agent (Registration Number 63,989). Respondent is subject to the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct, 37 C.F.R. § 11.101 et seq.

在与此相关的所有时间，加利福尼亚州穆列塔的被调查人是注册专利代理人（注册号 63,989）。被调查人受美国专利商标局专业行为规则 37 C.F.R.  § 11.101 等的约束。

2. The US PTO Director has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to 35 U .S.C. §§ 2(b )(2)(D) and 32 and 37 C.F.R. §§ 11.19, I 1.20, and 11.26.

美国专利商标局局长根据 35 U.S.C. 对此事具有管辖权。 §§ 2(b)(2)(D) 和 32 和 37 C.F.R. §§ 11.19、I 1.20 和 11.26。

Joint Stipulated Facts

共同规定的事实

3. At all times relevant, Respondent was a registered patent agent.

在所有相关时间，被调查人都是注册专利代理人。

4. Respondent represents that he is a non-native speaker of the native language of his clients.

被调查人表示他不是以客户的母语为母语的人。

5. Respondent was the attomey of record on approximately 4,000 design patent applications filed with the USPTO on behalf of applicants between August 2019 and September 2021 ("the relevant time period").

被调查人是 2019 年 8 月至 2021 年 9 月期间（“相关时间段”）代表申请人向美国专利商标局提交的约 4,000 份外观设计专利申请的记录代理人

6. The USPTO issued Notices of Additional Fees Due in 171 design patent applications in which Respondent signed and filed a Certification of Micro Entity Status as the authorized party during the relevant time period.

美国专利商标局在 171 件外观设计专利申请中发布了附加费通知，其中被申请人在相关时间段内作为授权方签署并提交了微型实体身份证明。

7. These Notices were issued based on the appearance that the micro entity application filing limit was exceeded by the applicant for each of the applications. See 37 C.F.R. § 1.29(a)(2).

这些通知是基于申请人在每份申请中都超出了微型实体申请提交限制的表象而发布的。 参见 37 C.F.R. § 1.29(a)(2)

8. Upon notification by the USPTO, Respondent timely changed the entity status and paid the deficiency fee on all the applications that remained active.

收到美国专利商标局的通知后，被调查人及时更改了实体状态，并为所有仍有效的申请支付了差额费。

9. Respondent proactively identified other Certifications of Micro Entity Status that he filed with the USPTO in error and has changed the entity status and paid the deficiency fee on the applications that remained active.

被调查人主动识别出他错误地向美国专利商标局提交的其他微型实体身份证明，并更改了实体身份并为仍然有效的申请支付了差额费

10. Despite changing the entity status and paying the deficiency fee, Respondent represents he reasonably believed that he properly signed and filed 132 of the 171 noticed Certifications of Micro Entity Status because, based on his inquiry, the applications were either (i) filed on behalf of an applicant who has an identical Romanized name as other applicants or (ii) for which an applicant has assigned all ownership rights, or is obligated to assign all ownership rights, as a result of the applicant's previous employment.

尽管改变了实体状态并支付了不足费用，被调查人表示他有理由相信他正确地签署并提交了 171 份被通知的微型实体状态证明中的 132 份，因为根据他的询问，申请是 (i) 代表与其他申请人具有相同罗马化名称的申请人，或 (ii) 由于申请人之前的工作，申请人已为其转让全部所有权，或有义务转让全部所有权

11. Respondent acknowledges that 39 of the 171 noticed Certifications of Micro Entity Status were filed in error with the USPTO. Specifically, Respondent represents that a reasonable inquiry could not be performed prior to presentation of the 39 applications to the USPTO due, in large part, to circumstances with his firm's insufficient docketing system or his inability to corroborate an applicant's identity based on (i) the Romanization of an inventor's name, (ii) his non-native language limitations when communicating with the applicant, or (iii) the applicant's intent to deceive the USPTO unbeknownst to the Respondent or his prior firm.

被调查人承认，在 171 份注意到的微型实体身份证明中，有 39 份错误地提交给了美国专利商标局。具体而言，被调查人表示，在向美国专利商标局提交 39 份申请之前，无法进行合理的调查，这在很大程度上是由于其公司的备案系统不充分或他无法根据 (i) 发明人姓名的罗马化，(ii) 他在与申请人交流时的非母语限制，或 (iii) 申请人在被调查人或其之前的公司不知情的情况下欺骗美国专利商标局的意图。

12. Respondent adopted measures intended to prevent the recurrence of the incorrect certification of Micro Entity Status, including the creation of (i) a master spreadsheet complete with an exemplary figure for each design application, along with identification card information, inventor information, and search keywords; (ii) a modified declaration form, which asks the inventor to sign his or her name in both the applicant's native language and English and list all of the inventor's previous patent applications; (iii) a firm policy of having more meetings and outside presentations regarding conflict checks.

被调查人采取了旨在防止错误的微型实体身份认证再次发生的措施，包括创建（i）一个主电子表格，其中包含每个外观设计申请的示例图，以及身份证信息、发明人信息和搜索关键字；(ii) 修改后的声明表，要求发明人用申请人的母语和英文签名，并列出发明人以前的所有专利申请；(iii) 关于冲突检查的更多会议和外部演示的坚定政策。

13.Respondent has resigned from his prior firm.

被调查人已从他之前的公司辞职

Joint Legal Conclusions

共同法律结论

14. Respondent acknowledges that, based on the information contained in the Joint Stipulated Facts, above, that Respondent's acts and omissions violated the following provision of the USPTO Rules of Professional Conduct:

被调查人承认，根据上述联合规定事实中包含的信息，被调查人的行为和不作为违反了美国专利商标局职业行为规则的以下规定：

a. 37 C.F.R. § 11.103 (diligence) by (i) not always conducting a reasonable inquiry under the circumstances pursuant to 37 C.F.R. § 11.18 prior to presenting certifications of micro entity status to the USPTO on behalf of Respondent's clients with the knowledge that the USPTO would rely on such certifications regarding the application filing limit, and (ii) failing to have had in place adequate procedures to ensure that every certification of micro entity status complies with USPTO regulations; and

37 C.F.R. § 11.103（勤奋）通过 (i) 并未一直是根据 37 C.F.R. 的情况进行合理调查。§ 11.18 在代表被调查人的客户向美国专利商标局提交微型实体身份证明之前，知道美国专利商标局将依赖此类关于申请提交限制的证明，并且 (ii) 未能制定适当的程序来确保每一项微型实体身份证明都符合美国专利商标局的规定；和

b. 37 C.F.R. § l 1.804(d) (engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice) by (i) not always conducting a reasonable inquiry under the circumstances pursuant to 37 C.F .R. § 11.18 prior to presenting certifications of micro entity status to the USPTO on behalf of Respondent's clients with the knowledge that the USPTO would rely on such certifications regarding the application filing limit, and (ii) failing to have had in place adequate procedures to ensure that every certification of micro entity status complies with USPTO regulations.

37 C.F.R. § l 1.804(d)（从事有损司法行政的行为）通过 (i) 并未一直根据 37 C.F.R.的情况进行合理调查。§ 11.18 在代表被调查人的客户向美国专利商标局提交微型实体身份证明之前，知道美国专利商标局将依赖此类关于申请提交限制的证明，并且 (ii) 未能制定适当的程序来确保每一项微型实体身份证明都符合美国专利商标局的规定

Agreed-Upon Sanction

达成一致的制裁

15. Respondent freely and voluntarily agreed, and it is hereby ORDERED that:

被调查人自愿自愿同意，特此命令：

a. Respondent shall be and is hereby publicly reprimanded;

被调查人应被公开训斥；

b. The OED Director shall electronically publish the Final Order at the OED's electronic 

FOIA Reading Room, which is publicly accessible through the Office's website at:

https://foiadocuments.uspto.gov/oed/;

OED 主任应在 OED 的电子 FOIA 阅览室以电子方式发布最终命令，该阅览室可通过办公室的网站公开访问：https://foiadocuments.uspto.gov/oed/

c. The OED Director shall publish a notice in the Official Gazette that is materially consistent with the following:

OED 主任应在官方公报上发布与以下内容实质一致的通知

Notice of Reprimand

训斥通知

This notice concerns Raymond Chew of Murrieta, California, who is a registered patent agent (Registration Number 63,989). Mr. Chew is hereby reprimanded for violating 37 C.F.R. §§ 11.103 (failing to act with reasonable diligence in representing a client) and 11.804( d) ( engaging in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice). The reprimand is predicated upon Mr. Chew's violations of these provisions of the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") Rules of Professional Conduct in connection with the submission of Certifications of Micro Entity Status in applications where the filing limit was exceeded by the applicant. See 37 CFR 1.29(a)(2).

本通知涉及加利福尼亚州穆列塔的 Raymond Chew，他是一名注册专利代理人（注册号 63,989）。Chew 先生因违反 37 C.F.R. 而受到谴责。§§ 11.103（未尽合理努力代表客户）和 11.804(d)（从事有损司法的行为）。谴责的依据是 Chew 先生违反了美国专利商标局（“USPTO”）职业行为规则中有关提交微型实体身份证明的规定申请人。参见 37 CFR 1.29(a)(2)。

The USPTO notified Mr. Chew of numerous apparent errors where the micro entity application filing limit appeared to be exceeded in applications filed by applicants of design patent applications. As the attorney of record for these applications, Mr. Chew signed the respective Certifications of Micro Entity Status certifying that "neither the applicant nor the inventor nor a joint inventor has been named as the inventor or a joint inventor on more than four previously filed U.S. patent applications .... " Mr. Chew represents that a reasonable inquiry could not be performed prior to presentation of the applications to USPTO due, in large part, to his firm's insufficient docketing system or his inability to corroborate an applicant's identity based on (i) the Romanization of an inventor's name, (ii) his non-native language limitations when communicating with the applicant, or (iii) the applicant's intent to deceive the USPTO unbeknownst to Mr. Chew or his firm.

美国专利商标局通知周先生许多明显的错误，即外观设计专利申请的申请人提交的申请似乎超出了微实体申请的提交限制。 作为这些申请的记录代理人，Chew 先生签署了相应的微型实体身份证明，证明“申请人、发明人或联合发明人均未被指定为发明人或联合发明人，超过四个先前提交的美国专利申请....” Chew 先生表示，在向美国专利商标局提交申请之前无法进行合理的调查，这在很大程度上是由于其公司的备案系统不完善或他无法根据以下内容证实申请人的身份（i) 发明人姓名的罗马化，(ii) 他在与申请人交流时的非母语限制，或 (iii) 申请人在Chew先生或其公司不知情的情况下欺骗美国专利商标局的意图。

In reaching this settlement, the Office of Enrollment and Discipline ("OED'') Director considered the following: (i) Mr. Chew has never been the subject of professional discipline by the USPTO; (ii) Mr. Chew has acknowledged his lapses, demonstrated genuine contrition, and accepted responsibility for his acts and omissions; (iii) Mr. Chew fully cooperated with OED's investigation and provided sua sponte informative, supplemental responses to his original responses to requests for information; (iv) Mr. Chew took sua sponte corrective action to fully comply with his professional responsibilities, including timely changing the entity status and paying the deficiency fee on all the appropriate applications; and (v) Mr. Chew has adopted measures intended

to prevent the recurrence of these violations, including the creation of a master spreadsheet complete with an exemplary figure for each design application, along with identification card information, inventor information, and search keywords, and a modified declaration form that asks the inventor to sign his or her name in both his or her native language and in English and list all of the inventor's previous patent applications.

在达成此和解时，注册和纪律办公室（“OED”）主任考虑了以下因素：(i) Chew 先生从未成为美国专利商标局专业纪律处分的对象；(ii) Chew 先生承认他的过失 , 表现出真正的忏悔，并为自己的作为和不作为承担责任；(iii) Chew 先生充分配合 OED 的调查，并提供了自发地信息性补充答复，以回应他最初对信息请求的答复；(iv) Chew 先生接受了自发地采取纠正措施以充分履行其专业职责，包括及时更改实体状态并为所有适当的申请支付缺陷费用；以及 (v) Chew 先生已采取旨在防止再次发生这些违规行为的措施，包括创建 一份主电子表格，其中包含每个外观设计申请的示例图，以及身份证信息、发明人信息和搜索关键字，以及一份修改后的声明表，要求发明人用他或她的母语和英语签署他或她的名字，并列出发明人以前的所有专利申请。

This action is the result of a settlement agreement between Raymond Chew and the OED Director pursuant to the provisions of 35 U.S.C. §§ 2(b)(2)(D) and 32 and 37 C.F .R. §§ 11.19, 11.20, and 11.26. Disciplinary decisions involving practitioners are posted for public reading at the Office of Enrollment and Discipline Reading Room accessible at:

https://foiadocuments.uspto.gov/oed/;

此诉讼是 Raymond Chew 与 OED 主任根据 35 U.S.C. 的规定达成和解协议的结果。§§ 2(b)(2)(D) 和 32 和 37 C.F.R. §§ 11.19、11.20 和 11.26。涉及从业者的纪律处分决定张贴在招生办公室和纪律阅览室供公众阅读，网址为：https://foiadocuments.uspto.gov/oed/；

d.Nothing in the Proposed Settlement Agreement or the Final Order shall prevent the Office from considering the record of this disciplinary proceeding, including the Final Order: (1) when addressing any further complaint or evidence of the same or similar misconduct concerning Respondent brought to the attention of the Office; and (2) in any future disciplinary proceeding against Respondent (i) as an aggravating factor to be taken into consideration in determining any discipline to be imposed; and/or (ii) to rebut any statement or representation by or on Respondent's behalf;

拟议和解协议或最终命令中的任何内容均不得阻止办公室考虑此纪律处分程序的记录，包括最终命令：(1) 在处理任何进一步的投诉或关于提请办公室注意的答辩人的相同或类似不当行为的证据时；(2) 在未来针对答辩人的任何纪律处分程序中 (i) 作为在确定要实施的任何纪律处分时应考虑的加重因素；和/或 (ii) 反驳由或代表答辩人的任何陈述或陈述；

e. Respondent has agreed to waive all rights to seek reconsideration of the Final Order under 37 C.F.R. § 11.56, waives the right to have the Final Order reviewed under 37 C.F.R. § 11.57, and waives the right otherwise to appeal or challenge the Final Order in any manner; and

被调查人已同意放弃根据 37 C.F.R. 寻求重新考虑最终命令的所有权利。§ 11.56，放弃根据 37 C.F.R. 审查最终命令的权利。§ 11.57，并放弃以任何方式上诉或质疑最终命令的权利；和

f. The parties shall bear their own costs incurred to date and in carrying out the terms of

the Proposed Settlement Agreement and this Final Order.

双方应自行承担迄今为止为执行拟议和解协议和本最终命令的条款而产生的费用。

******,         D********y

S*********k,     Us*************d

D*******         Date: 2023.01.20

D*************k                              

Deputy General Counsel for General Law

U. S. Patent and Trademark Office

on delegated authority by

K*************l

Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Prope1ty and

Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office