The Patent Act of 1952 affirmed that patent rights from that time onward would be enforced according to federal statutes. To this end, it also reordered the government agency responsible for patent rights, changing the former Patent Office into the newly dubbed Patent and Trademark Office.
This agency was placed under the aegis of the newly ordered Title 35 of the United States Code. The Parts of this Title were ordered according to the area of patent rights they dealt with. Comprising three at the time, the Parts were later increased in number to four, by a major 1975 amendment on the issue of international patent rights in supplement to the formerly country-based patent protection.
As Part I of Title 35, the 1952 Act passed its laws on "Patent and Trademark Office," which specified the duties that would be incurred by the titular office and the capabilities it would be given for carrying them out, as well as other organizational details. Within Part I, Chapter 1, comprising Sections 1 to 14, dealt with the subject of "Establishment, Officers, and Employees, Functions." Chapter 2, from Sections 21 to 26, was given to "Proceedings in the Patent and Trademark Office." Sections 31 to 33, of Chapter 3, address "Practice Before Patent and Trademark Office." Chapter 4, on "Patent Fees; Funding; Search Systems," covers Sections 41 to 42.
Part II of Title 35 concerns the subject of "PatentabilityPlant PatentsDesign
Part III was devoted by the 1952 Act to "Patents and Protection of Patent Rights." Chapter 25, including Sections 251 to 256, involves "Amendment and Correction to Patents." Chapter 26, of Sections 261 and 262, is on "Ownership and Assignment." "Government Interests in Patents" is covered by Sections 266 and 267 in Chapter 27. Sections 271 to 273 of Chapter 28 deal with "Infringement of Patents." Chapter 29 concerns "Remedies for Infringement of Patent, and Other Actions," in Sections 281 to 297. "Prior Art Citations to Office and Ex Parte Reexamination of Patents" is covered in Sections 301 to 307 of Chapter 30. Chapter 31 deals with "Optical Inter Partes Reexamination Procedures" in Sections 311 to 318.
