37 CFR § 1.414 - The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a Designated Office or Elected Office.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t37/s1.414"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "37 CFR § 1.414 - The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a Designated Office or Elected Office."
title_number: 37
title_name: "Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights"
section_number: "1.414"
section_name: "The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a Designated Office or Elected 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: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
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"
---


# 1.414 The United States Patent and Trademark Office as a Designated Office or Elected Office.

(a) The United States Patent and Trademark Office will act as a Designated Office or Elected Office for international applications in which the United States of America has been designated or elected as a State in which patent protection is desired.

(b) The United States Patent and Trademark Office, when acting as a Designated Office or Elected Office during international processing will be identified by the full title “United States Designated Office” or by the abbreviation “DO/US” or by the full title “United States Elected Office” or by the abbreviation “EO/US”.

(c) The major functions of the United States Designated Office or Elected Office in respect to international applications in which the United States of America has been designated or elected, include:

(1) Receiving various notifications throughout the international stage and

(2) National stage processing for international applications entering the national stage under 35 U.S.C. 371.

[52 FR 20047, May 28, 1987, as amended at 77 FR 48823, Aug. 14, 2012]