Copyright Notice

It is often said that there is no copyright in patents, and that patents can be freely copied in whole or in part. That statement is only partially correct. Although there is an exception under copyright law for works produced by the federal government expressly provides for copyright and mask work notice:

(d) A copyright or mask work notice may be placed in a design or utility patent application adjacent to copyright and mask work material contained therein. The notice may appear at any appropriate portion of the patent application disclosure. For notices in drawings, see § 1.84(s). The content of the notice must be limited to only those elements provided for by law. For example, "©1983 John Doe" (17 U.S.C. 401) and "*M* John Doe" (17 U.S.C. 909) would be properly limited and, under current statutes, legally sufficient notices of copyright and mask work, respectively.

(e) The authorization shall read as follows: A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to (copyright or mask work) protection. The (copyright or mask work) owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all (copyright or mask work) rights whatsoever.

That last sentence only makes sense if Congress intended for patent drafters (or their clients) to retain copyright in aspects of patents and applications other than facsimile reproduction. Thus, there is no question that images and text of patents can be copied in their entirety. But using portions of the text for commercial benefit, or derivating the text, drawing figures, and so forth, could be used as a basis for a copyright infringement lawsuit.