37 CFR § 43.2 - Definitions.

---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t37/s43.2"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "37 CFR § 43.2 - Definitions."
title_number: 37
title_name: "Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights"
section_number: "43.2"
section_name: "Definitions."
chapter_name: "UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE, DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE"
subchapter_number: "A"
subchapter_name: "GENERAL"
part_number: "43"
part_name: "DECISION CIRCULATION AND REVIEW WITHIN THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD"
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), 6, 134, 135, 311, 316, 321, and 326."
regulatory_source: "89 FR 49814, June 12, 2024, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "43"
---


# 43.2 Definitions.

The following definitions apply to this part:

*Board* means the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

*Decision* means any decision, order, opinion, or other written work product intended for entry into the record of a Board proceeding.

*Deputy Director* means the Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Deputy Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or an individual serving as Acting Deputy Director.

*Director* means the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or an individual serving as Acting Director or performing the functions and duties of the Director.

*Commissioner for Patents* and *Commissioner for Trademarks* mean the positions defined in 35 U.S.C. 3(b)(2), or an individual acting in the capacity of one of those positions.

*Issuance* means the entry of a decision into the record of a Board proceeding.

*Management Judge* means the Chief Administrative Patent Judge, the Deputy Chief Administrative Patent Judge, a Vice Chief Administrative Patent Judge, a Senior Lead Administrative Patent Judge, a Lead Administrative Patent Judge, including individuals who serve in these positions in an acting capacity, or any other Administrative Patent Judge who, as part of their duties, serves as the rating official of one or more Administrative Patent Judges.

*Office* means the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

*Panel* means the members of the Board assigned to a particular proceeding, or an aspect thereof.

*Proceeding* means an appeal or contested case under part 41 of this chapter, or a proceeding under part 42 of this chapter.