37 CFR § 1.1003 - The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a designated office.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t37/s1.1003"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "37 CFR § 1.1003 - The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a designated office."
title_number: 37
title_name: "Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights"
section_number: "1.1003"
section_name: "The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a designated office."
chapter_name: "UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "GENERAL"
part_number: "1"
part_name: "RULES OF PRACTICE IN PATENT CASES"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-04-05"
last_updated: "2026-04-05"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2), unless otherwise noted."
regulatory_source: "24 FR 10332, Dec. 22, 1959, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "1"
---


# 1.1003 The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a designated office.

(a) The United States Patent and Trademark Office will act as a designated office (“United States Designated Office”) for international design applications in which the United States has been designated as a Contracting Party in which protection is sought.

(b) The major functions of the United States Designated Office include:

(1) Accepting for national examination international design applications which satisfy the requirements of the Hague Agreement, the Regulations, and the regulations;

(2) Performing an examination of the international design application in accordance with 35 U.S.C. chapter 16; and

(3) Communicating the results of examination to the International Bureau.