35 U.S.C. § 8
Section 8 · Classification of patents
This is § 9 of the Patent Act of 1952
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Royal Typewriter Co. v. Remington Rand, Inc. (1948)
Most recently applied in United States v. Arthrex, Inc. (June 2021)
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 may revise and maintain the classification by subject matter of United States letters patent, and such other patents and printed publications as may be necessary or practicable, for the purpose of determining with readiness and accuracy the novelty of inventions for which applications for patent are filed.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Historical and Revision Notes
Based on Title 35, U.S.C., 1946 ed., §6 note (June 10, 1898, ch. 430, §1, 30 Stat. 440).
Changes in language are made.
Prior Provisions
A prior section 8 was renumbered section 7 of this title.
Amendments
1999—Pub. L. 106–113 renumbered section 9 of this title as this section and substituted “Director” for “Commissioner”.
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.