35 U.S.C. § 7
Section 7 · Library
This is § 8 of the Patent Act of 1952
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 64 court decisions — leading case In re Gartside (2000)
Most recently applied in Arthrex, Inc. v. Smith & Nephew, Inc. (March 2020)
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 Director shall maintain a library of scientific and other works and periodicals, both foreign and domestic, in the Patent and Trademark Office to aid the officers in the discharge of their duties.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on Title 35, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §10 (R.S. 486).
Some change in language has been made. “Purchased” is changed to “maintained” to include the existing library and keeping it up by additions. The phrase “and other” is added to include legal works. The last phrase of the corresponding section of the existing statute is omitted as unnecessary.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 7, acts July 19, 1952, ch. 950, 66 Stat. 793; Pub. L. 85–933, §2, Sept. 6, 1958, 72 Stat. 1793; Pub. L. 86–370, §1(b), Sept. 23, 1959, 73 Stat. 650; Pub. L. 93–596, §1, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1949; Pub. L. 93–601, §2, Jan. 2, 1975, 88 Stat. 1956; Pub. L. 98–622, title II, §201(a), Nov. 8, 1984, 98 Stat. 3386, established the Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 106–113, div. B, §1000(a)(9) [title IV, §§4717(1), 4731], Nov. 29, 1999, 113 Stat. 1536, 1501A–580, 1501A–581, effective 4 months after Nov. 29, 1999.
Amendments
1999—Pub. L. 106–113 renumbered section 8 of this title as this section and substituted “Director” for “Commissioner”.
1975—Pub. L. 93–596 substituted “Patent and Trademark Office” for “Patent Office”.
Effective Date of 1999 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 106–113 effective 4 months after Nov. 29, 1999, see section 1000(a)(9) [title IV, §4731] of Pub. L. 106–113, set out as a note under section 1 of this title.
Effective Date of 1975 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 93–596 effective Jan. 2, 1975, see section 4 of Pub. L. 93–596, set out as a note under section 1111 of Title 15, Commerce and Trade.
Fees for Use of Search Rooms and Libraries Prohibited
For provisions prohibiting Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks from imposing fee for use of public patent or trademark search rooms and libraries, and providing that costs of such rooms and libraries come from amounts appropriated by Congress, see section 4 of Pub. L. 99–607, set out as a note under section 41 of this title.