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U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) employees are forbidden to hold either oral or written communication with an attorney or agent who has been suspended or excluded from practice by the USPTO regarding an application unless it be one in which said attorney or agent is the applicant. Power to inspect given to such an attorney or agent will not be accepted.
The assignee of record of the entire interest in an application may intervene in the prosecution of the application, appointing an attorney or agent of his or her own choice. See 37 CFR 3.71. Such intervention, however, does not exclude the applicant from access to the application to see that it is being prosecuted properly, unless the assignee makes specific request to that effect. Any request to prevent the inventor from obtaining access to the file should be filed as a separate paper, 37 CFR 1.4(c), and should be directed to the Office of Petitions. If the request is granted, the inventor will be informed that he or she will only be permitted to inspect the application on sufficient showing why such inspection is necessary to conserve his or her rights. In re The Kellogg Switchboard & Supply Company, 1906 C.D. 274 (Comm'r Pat. 1906).
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