35 U.S.C. § 187
Section 187 · Nonapplicability to certain persons
Amended 1 time on record
Applied in 1 court decisions — leading case Halpern v. United States (1958)
Most recently applied in Halpern v. United States (August 1958)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
The prohibitions and penalties of this chapter shall not apply to any officer or agent of the United States acting within the scope of his authority, nor to any person acting upon his written instructions or permission.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on Title 35, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §157 (Feb. 1, 1952, ch. 4, §7, 66 Stat. 6).
Language is changed.